


One Year

by akaijb



Category: GOT7
Genre: Angst, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 55,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaijb/pseuds/akaijb
Summary: Ana is a renowned Brazilian stylist who has been working in Japan for years in the entertainment industry. As a friend calls her with a job offer in Korea she flies there for a new adventure with a group she still doesn't know.How will Ana adapt to a new country while keeping everything running in her studio in Japan?
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum | JB, Im Jaebum | JB & Jackson Wang, Im Jaebum | JB & Kim Yugyeom, Im Jaebum | JB & Mark Tuan, Im Jaebum | JB & Park Jinyoung, Im Jaebum | JB/Kim Yugyeom, Im Jaebum | JB/Original Female Character(s), Kunpimook Bhuwakul | BamBam & Im Jaebum | JB
Kudos: 13





	1. Day one

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! This is the first fanfic I post and it ended up being a Got7 one. So here is One Year, it's bound to be a long one, so sit tight if you want to go on this adventure with me.

Once again she was pacing around the room.

— Well, I still don't know how you managed to deliver the outfits wrongly. How...— She held herself stiffly for seconds while waiting for Naoki to end the excuses. Her friend was happily seated at the couch making gestures while not understanding a thing.

She was speaking Japanese. Literally. And he could barely manage to write his name in the language, let alone understand what was happening.

— I can't help you get mad if I can't understand you. — He said in English and she could not disagree.

— Make a report to me, I'm meeting the group today and cannot deal with this right now. — She heard someone yell at the other side of the line, the studio was probably in complete chaos. — We'll talk later Naoki-kun.

— Are you going to talk to me in a language I can understand or is that too out of question?

She fell by his side sighing. 

— Someone mixed the outfits for the deliveries. The packages are coming to Seoul, so it's very serious and shitty, but right now there's nothing I can do.

— Is it _that_ serious? — He asked sensitively, even though she didn't look all that troubled. — I mean, maybe the packages had similar contents?

— Have you ever seen me do similar shit? — At her tone, he held his hands up while receiving a very savage glare. — It's not even for the same group, and I think one of them is for SM. If I lose this contract I'm—

— Wait, you are doing SM again? — His eyes were suddenly wide.

— Same as before, just one guy in the group.

— Oh! — He held his hands up again, but now completely excited. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate. — Is it Yuta?

— It's confidential again, once the comeback is released you'll know.

— Have you been in touch with Jungwoo lately? — He looked so excited she didn’t want to kill his spree. — Oh, God! How come it never crossed your mind to talk to me about that?

She went for a deadpan.

— So you showed it to me before? — A wide smile spreading all over his face.

— Since when do I release something without showing you?

— Then you are coming back with your shady deals?

— Don't come at me with the shady deals, we are in Seoul, I don't even know which company this is, _and_ I can barely speak Korean.

— Well, that's a choice of yours. Tell me again why you totally left K-pop behind.

— Someone's coming. — She sat up, shoulder down, neck long.

— Really, no Korean?

— Hello, I'm Ana. — She smiled as if she was presenting herself with the most fluent of her knowledge in language study, that was pretty much all the Korean she could master at the time, this and a couple of phrases learned in dramas she watched through life.

— Well, I can't say your pronunciation was bad but I'm sure you are going to _want_ to know more Korean as soon as we meet the people we're going to work with.

— Well... — She was abruptly interrupted by her phone vibration and a couple of people bursting into the room. She hurriedly denied the call and got up to her feet while bowing. All in one. 

She tried her best to analyse the two women and the men, but it was too much. One of the women was already talking to Dan in perfect Korean, one miss for Ana already, the other was typing furiously her phone as if the whole world depended on that, and the man was just standing in the corner of the room as if ready to vanish.

— Nice to meet you, Ms Ana. — The woman that was talking to Dan served her with one English phrase, and that seemed to be all as well. 

— She doesn't speak English nor Japanese, so she brought a translator. — Dan pointed to the guy at the corner.

— We really like your work, and the album we are going to come with is very important to us, so we'll go all the way out if necessary. — The crazy typing habits woman also spoke in English, but Ana was pretty sure she wasn't going to follow them since there was a translator.

— Wait. — There was no straight face she could pull at that moment, she really wanted a new big contract, and even though she didn't know what company she was standing in, a big project would always be a big project. — So this is not an interview? Or test? You guys are already sure you want me to do this?

She waited for the translator to whisper the rest of her phrase to the first woman. Damn it, she didn't want to be followed by a whisperer everywhere she went. — Oh! — The first woman smiled and said words she could not understand.

Then the translator came forward. Thank God he wasn't going to whisper all his way around her. — Your friend Dan already presented some of your work to us and we have been keeping an eye on your work as well, so we hope you'll join us as soon as possible. 

Ana waited for a while. Not for more information nor someone to say something else, but for her brain to go back to work and form words. Thank goodness her friend came to her rescue, even though she could not understand one word of her Korean.

— She's a little startled, I kind of didn’t tell her the specifics of the project and everything. — He smiled bashfully. — She doesn't even know what company this is. 

When the not-English-speaking woman opened her mouth in clear surprise Ana started reconsidering that maybe Dan had not come to her rescue. And yes, she pretty much wanted to at least understand Korean.

— Are you sure you want to work with us? — That was turning her brain into soup, why did the typing woman think that?

— What did you tell them? — Ana asked Dan whining, was the translator even there for her? He had gone back to whispering to the first woman.

— I just said I didn't give you any kind of information. — He tilted his head slightly clearly trying to calm Ana's rising despair.

— Okay, then let's start over, can we? I don't even know your names, could we start with that?

— I'm Do Mijin, this is Lee Haeun and he is Kim Yejoon. I'm the head of the styling department, Mrs Lee is the head of the concept department and Mr Choi is... Well, the translator as you can see.

— Ah, nice to meet you. — Well, she knew how to pull that off in Korean as well, she did it with the second bow of the day, not that anyone was counting.

— So you don't intend to give up on us, right? — Ms Do asked blank-faced.

— Oh, no, I don't, I just need to understand everything that is going to happen so we can get to work. — She held in a sigh, a happy sigh because things were going to be okay.

The next to say something was Ms Lee so Ana had to wait for Mr Kim to translate before taking action.

— So let's sit so we can start clearing things up.

And they did it in silence. 

— Before introducing you to our project let me know, are you going to work with our team of styling or are you bringing people from your studio? — There was no way Ana would be able to hold inside the surprise, her eyes jumped to Dan. — It was not him, as I told you before we have been looking at your work for some time now.

— All right. I intend to come alone into this, my people from the studio already have their own agenda for the whole year.

— The _whole year_? — The translation from Mr Choi was not emphatic at all, but Ana caught the proper emphasis.

— Yeah, some agencies booked us even though they still don't know what they want, it's normal these days.

Before Mr Choi finished whispering, Ms Do came again. — Well, and you still want to work with us?

As Ana got herself a little distracted by her friend's poorly stifled laugh; which cost him a kick under the table; the head of the concept department almost lost her mind. — Are you crazy? — That much she could understand. Mijin also got herself a little aggression, a slap behind the shoulder. — Are you trying to make her change her mind?

Dan was understanding everything, so Ana took a deep look into her friend's eyes trying to ask him to make things happen, she did have matters to take care of after all. And their telepathy was probably on since Dan blurted something out in Korean catching everyone's attention, and then. — I guess we can start discussing the proposal now.

Perfect. Give it to Ana for making sure her brain was not turning into soup with a mixture of languages. She wanted to understand Korean again. — Yes please. — She managed not to sound exasperated at all.

Mijin waited no more, being efficient by sliding the pitch to Ana on an iPad. It did not take Ana a lot of time to realise that the contract was more than she wanted since she was currently working for her will, not really for the money. There were a lot of zeros, and she checked more times than she felt comfortable confessing that it was indeed in dollars. 

"Keep your eyes in control, no wide eyes, no wide eyes."

And she almost maintained it all except for the gasp that came with the last pages. How could it be JYPE? Her dynamic reading made her let it slide and she started looking for a sign based on her memory of the corridors she had taken with Dan. Cut that off, she was too lost in the studio's problems to be able to see anything. 

She stole a glance in Dan's direction. He was smirking. She would not be able to maintain a stern face if she tried telepathy again, but then everything went to shit. After a whole lot of documents about confidentiality and its fees, she got to the page about the group.

She didn't even manage to make a sound, mouth gape.

— Do you want to learn Korean now? — Dan asked in Portuguese this time. The bastard.


	2. Day one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ana meets Got7, the group she'll be working with for at least a year, how will be their first impression of themselves?

Ana was a control freak, and that said a lot about her. After being calmed by Naoki's news that there were no mistakes done, thanking Dan with all her might and even getting to know ITZY while discovering they knew and appreciated her work, she excused herself from the room so they could work. There were no signs of the group she was assigned to. 

The wait was killing the mood.

So give it to Ana to be looking around the floor. She was supposed to meet them while humming a Brazilian song she knew and loved by heart when she bumped into them. Two of them.

And the first thought that came to Ana's mind when her eyes found them was that they were definitely not photogenic.

From all the 5k videos she had watched of them, all she could say was that they did not do them justice. Her brain was all but running desperate action thoughts that her body couldn't respond to, and before she could do something Jaebeom started the greetings.

— Hello, I'm sorry we are this late, it's all my fault, we didn’t mean to make you wait for so long. 

She watched him talk as if she could understand him, but after the "hello, I'm sorry" she didn't quite catch anything. Thankfully, before Jaebeom could think she was mute or couldn't understand him, Mark, the American angel he was, remembered a little fact.

— I'm sorry, I heard you don't understand Korean, right? — Then he turned to the leader. — Did you forget about it? Manager Kim told us already.

She so didn't catch a word of his Korean phrase.

— I'm sorry. — She got apologies in English and a blush from Jaebeom.

As they simply headed in a direction she couldn't quite know where would take them she weighted if she should pinch herself to make sure it was real, but as Mark turned around asking her to follow them she left the idea behind. Soon enough there would be work to be done.

When she caught up with them Mark and Jaebeom were talking softly, and it would be an amazing moment to have subtitles. She could get a word here and there, but never a full phrase. Ana would surely be dead by the end of the project.

She almost bumped into Mark again when he stopped in front of the door.

— It's here. Some of us just came back from schedules overseas so we're a little tired, our manager had just left to get food when we went for you, I hope it's okay. — She nodded in silence feeling her senses finally calm down. She could do it, they were going to kill it.

While she was not looking, Mark made JB look back at her, and then the leader did something that she couldn't define as a scoff, sigh or heavy breath, but in the next second, they were inside the room.

  
  


The other five were resting silently in said room. It was completely different from the image of never-ending energy she had of them. — I was the last one in today. — Jaebeom's voice came from behind her, and she barely managed to prevent a shiver. She nodded not knowing how to answer that, Ana herself was a little down because of the jet lag, if it was Japan it would be okay, but coming from Brazil she would have to do a lot of catching up with sleep until she was 100% again, no one could blame her mind for being a little far behind. 

She could feel him behind her, but not _that_ close, it was freaking Korea, not Brazil. And she couldn't be more thankful; even though she always worked with male idols since getting in the industry; at the moment the distance felt like a security blanket. She tried to remember his height to calculate the distance between them, but besides not remembering how tall he was, she was so not good with numbers.

She turned on her heels when someone got in, closing the door very loudly. It had to be the manager, she assumed but it was impossible to know for sure without research. — You guys have to get up, we'll compensate our sleep later, now we have to get going with the draft of this project, it’s all on you this time around.

Being outside the studio was more different than Ana had previously anticipated. Not only the studio, but Japan felt more like her area, but let's not get into how much of a territorial personality she has. Jaebeom and Mark were the firsts to get to the table, being already up beforehand, but she couldn’t understand what was going on since she couldn't understand freaking Korean! She had to find time in her schedule to kill Dan later that day.

— I heard you like being called Ms Ana right? — The manager went to her after putting the food on the table, it took her a couple of moments to get that he was speaking English. — I won't always be with you, some of the guys can speak English, so I guess the language barrier won't be a problem. Do you speak any other language?

— Japanese and Portuguese.

— I don't know about the Portuguese, but the Japanese will be very handy. — He had his back to the table that was almost full with the members already. 

— Are you going to start without the presentations? — Jackson complained while typing on his phone.

— It's not like we don't know who she is already. — Bambam said, throwing his head back in a tired manner.

They did what? Besides their more than decent English, she couldn't understand how and why they would know about her. If someone didn't need the presentations it was not her. Right? Once the boys got quiet again the manager guided Ana to a seat at the table while Youngjae poked Mark's arm indicating Bambam and Jackson. Mark them proceeded to what seemed like the translation of what had just been said.

— I'll let the boys introduce themselves and then you can say what you want, okay? — He asked them to start after her nod and it all began with Jaebeom.

They went on one by one, she did her best focusing on what they said, but even if she had stopped following them and everything it was not like any of that was new. Except for the fact that now they were presenting themselves to her directly.

— Well, I'm Ana and this is my first time working in Korea, but not with a Korean group, I participated in a couple of Japanese comebacks and my studio also works with Japanese groups and Japanese idols from kpop groups, and... — She looked at them and to her surprise, they looked very into what she was saying. — They so didn't understand what I just said, right?

The manager smiled and then proceeded to talk to the guys in Korean, she supposed he was translating what she had just said. In the end, he got a smirk from most of them and a full laugh from the ones who didn’t get her English words. She lost the joke.

— Ms Ana, we all know about your work. — Jinyoung said at a slow pace _and_ in English, so she couldn't even claim she didn't understand him. She was probably looking at them in some kind of funny disbelief because their smirks turned into looks of fondness.

— Did Ms Do tell you she was the one who asked for you?

— Not exactly, I kind of came because of a friend's indication. — She was baffled. 

— Oh, Dan-ssi! — Youngjae got in the conversation, as Mak whispered the translation. 

So they could indeed communicate.

— Yes, him. — She let herself get in the group laugh being sure by then that the experience wasn't going to kill her.

  
  


— So she wasn’t kidding when she said it was very special. 

— Yes, we have a little more than a year before Jaebeom and Jinyoung enlistment. — Their manager looked like he was going to burst at any time, always checking his phone. — And we want you to come up with the concept and styling of the comebacks until that.

— Well, I... — Her eyes scanned all the guys, it was not as if she would refuse now, the papers had been processed already, but they were looking at her expectantly nonetheless. — It'll be a pleasure to partner with you guys in such an important moment of your careers, I'm looking forward to doing a good job together.

For her surprise, they cheered. Mark, Jackson and Bambam first, then it was Jinyoung, not with the same enthusiasm, but then the others joined them as Mr Kim translated what she had said. She held her hands together and clapped silently following them in joy. Face burning up.

— Guys, guys, let's go back to business, we have to know how she works so we can do it. — They all looked at her waiting and probably forgetting she could not process a word of what the manager had said. 

— Sorry, sorry, manager Kim wants to know how your process is so we can get into it. 

— Oh, of course! — she stopped herself mid-thought. — Would it be better if I spoke Japanese? I think some of you guys can speak Japanese, right?

The effect was very fast, Mark had barely ended the translation and Yugyeom was already blurting out in Japanese. — Oh, so you know our work as well? — She felt her cheeks get hot as some of them laughed. She looked down ashamed but Youngjae came to her rescue. 

— Well not all of us can speak Japanese, so you can choose. — The kind one, and in Japanese, she could melt to death and she would be glad.

— Please keep up with the English, I love how yours sound. — Bambam smiled at her this time, but she had lost the feeling of her cheeks, so she could no longer know what was happening there. 

— Stop doing that Bambam. — Jackson said it while slapping the other member's arm. — He's saying that because his Japanese is not all that good.

— You are talking about _my_ Japanese? — The retort came so fast Ana didn't even have a chance of reacting.

— Boys, please, let's go on with what we have to do, let's stop the bickering. — JB clearly scolded the members but she couldn't quite understand the words, they were back to the Korean. She heard a bunch of "We're sorry, Ana-ssi" in the three languages, and for a while, she was certain her brain was about to shut down.

She waited silently until her brain decided to function again. — Well, I like to work with identity, because I think the only thing that can make you guys really leave a mark is by being who you are. I'm conscious that that doesn't always fit in the idol idea, but I plan to always make it as close as possible. — She gave some seconds to Mark to translate, but their eyes barely left her. — So I'll have a sketch of what we will be working on through the year, but the concept only becomes hole when I get to know you guys, that's what is going to make this memorable, real, and you know... a success.

— We'll be having a boat trip in two days to shoot a bunch of things with some groups. I think it will be a good occasion for you to have good contact with the members. — The manager told her as the guys got to understand what she had stated.

— Good, but I think today will be a little hard for me to come up with a plan for us to start visualizing everything, what do you think about when we gather tomorrow so I show a briefing? — They looked at her with weird eyes, did she do something wrong? Did they think she was going to deliver the whole thing at the same time? They clearly didn't know how tired she was if they thought so. — Will tomorrow be too late? — Shy.

— Will you be able to sketch everything up until then? — Mr Kim had the same look in his eyes as the guys.

— Oh, it'll be only something for us to start visualizing, I'm not _that_ fast.

It felt like they had just let the air out, she was pretty sure one of them even sighed.

— I guess Ana-ssi is indeed very impressive after all. — She heard the Korean phrase, but no one translated it for her, so she decided to continue. They shared weird looks between themselves.

— And there will be a couple of times when I'll need to go to Japan. — She said shyly, still kind of waiting for a translation. — because of the studio and some promotions I'll be joining there.

— You'll join promotions? — Jackson's time, but he wasn't the only one with a baffled look. 

They held a commotion between themselves as she nodded.

— But you never showed up in any promotions! — Bambam complained.

— We barely knew how you looked before coming here! — Yugyeom whined, and

What The Hell? 

They had done their research on her, but it didn't matter how much they did, she was utterly careful not to show up on social media or any other means. It was very hard, but she managed, all because she liked being private. But now she was heading to new horizons, she clearly would have to jump out of her comfort zone if she wanted to reach the places where her dreams lived.

— Yes, that's deeply planned, but... Did you guys already know about that? — They gave her some kind of a stern look that made her utterly puzzled.

— We have a list of songs we are going to pitch for the next album, one of the guys will be able to guide you through it okay? — The manager completely jumped over the point she got lost.

— Of course!

They got weird and she couldn't tell why, but as the manager said something that sounded very final the guys started getting up to leave.

— We'll end it here for today, the guys will probably gather together and then head home, so you don't really need to present anything tomorrow, the boat trip day will be good for getting along and then we'll set a date for the presentation.

— So I shouldn't do it tomorrow? — She was having a hard time understanding if it was an order or a suggestion.

— You are free to choose, Ms Ana, I just think we have time, and you can rest, for now, when the whole thing starts for real we won't get much rest, and from the experience, I have a mad stylist is one of the worst nightmares we could have.

— Oh okay. — She let the conversation end there and bowed her way out.

— Do tell me you didn't get mad at us Ana-san! — Yugyeom was on the other side of the door waiting for her. The door had just closed behind her when he appeared so after the sudden scare she took an involuntary step backwards, hitting her back at the door and holding her bag. — Did I scare you?

— Oh, Kim Yugyeom-san, sorry, I just wasn't prepared. Sorry. — He bent his back a little trying to look at her face.

— We are going to go out and I was sent to get you to go with us. — He smiled sweetly and that made her smile as well. 

— Oh, but I should head home, I had a very tiring flight here today.

— Oh, so did most of us! Let's head there to make the tiredness go away! 

Feeling half compelled by the fact that she would have to get to know them, and sooner the better, she let herself follow Yugyeom by his side as he started a light conversation.


	3. Day two

— So in your own theory, I saved you, is that it? — Dan arrived later than Ana the day after all the presentations, she had claimed her place was very close, but he knew for a fact that she would arrive very early even if it was in a different district.

— Well, I had jet lag and totally couldn't seem to drink in a Korean way, so it was a way to the walk of shame. — She was drawing on the table, the laptop open near the pile beside the sheet she was working on.

— Did you at least manage to sleep last night? — He was sure she hadn't, but asking wouldn't hurt.

— I prepared a sketch of what we are going to do and am coming up with a couple of ideas for the concepts themselves. — She didn't even look up at him to answer.

— So you simply didn't sleep? — There was not even an inch of disbelief in his words, it was not like it was something she had never done before.

— Just sit down to listen to what I've prepared, okay?

— The boat trip is not all fun, you know? It's actually all the hard work, but together in a huge open place that feels enclosed after a couple of hours. — He sat by her side after graciously failing the mission of looking at what she was working on over her shoulders.

— Are you trying to make me stay instead of going on the boat trip? You do know I need to spend time with the guys to create a _good_ concept, right?

— I'm just looking for a way to convince you to sleep. — He got a hold of a sheet of paper she had ended up working on already. — Will you pitch it to me?

She put her pencil down almost instantly, a dull look in her face. — Okay, the schedule is a part of the concepts, I don't think it could be done in a better way. — She made a pause as if looking for the courage to not feel ashamed of him, Ana was like that even though they had been doing this for years already. — We'll release one comeback with a concept that was not explored by the group just yet, it will make their range even broader, but we'll also be careful to maintain an identity so we don't fail the fans. We will promote, and everything, but then we will have a repackage of their biggest successes, and of course the promotion of it all with very thematic stages and everything. Last but not least we will start preparing for a nostalgic comeback that will have to be produced backwards because of the enlistment of JB and Jinyoung, we will launch the MV before their enlistment, but we'll have variety shows recorded beforehand, also the classic log of their activities and... — She sighed deeply. 

— You sighed, you never sigh, why did you sigh? — It could either be very good or utterly bad.

— I had this idea but I don't even know if it'll be possible to do so. We would likely invite selected fans that will have to sign a bunch of confidentiality documents so they can be at private stages that will be released after the MV just like any other stage of promotions, you know? Then we'll have material for some time after they have enlisted.

She then looked at him expectantly, he could see all the emotions of the world inside her eyes, but somehow they were a bit numb, probably because of the tiredness. She was waiting for an answer. How could she function in such a way? That couldn't possibly be healthy, and validating her work at the moment would send the wrong message. Working alongside Ana meant balancing making sure she was not overworking while aiming for perfection while having an amazing project done and at the same time making sure not to validate her not so healthy processes.

— No comments.

— What? — She finally got out of the partial emotional numbness. — You do have to say something.

— Then you have to tell me what JB said to you yesterday. — He made up a wicked smile, but darling, was she not too tired to complain?

— I don't negotiate with terrorists. — She went back to the last sheet she was working on.

— Don't be a little shit.

— He said they weren't what I thought they were as well. — Still drawing, eyes only half-open.

— What does that even mean? — She gave him a dead look. — Ok, let me put that aside. How did you two communicate?

— By talking? — She looked at him as if it was the most obvious thing.

— You don't speak Korean, he doesn't speak English.

— Oh, he said that in English. — She stopped drawing. — How the hell?

— That's what I meant. — His time to sigh. — Nana, what else did he say?

— Nothing, you rescued me. 

— You should sleep, you're so not making sense. — He rolled his eyes in disbelief.

— Won't you work today?

— Won't you sleep?

— Go get me coffee.

Dan got up unsatisfied, but knowing she was not going to back down he went out to get her coffee.

  
  


With his hands inside his pockets, Jaebeom tried his best to tune out the chatter behind him. It was beyond him that even after years sometimes they could be louder and more chattery than in their debut days.

— What did you tell her yesterday? — Jinyoung asked him from behind, voice low but close enough to be heard over the boys.

— Even you? — He said, not satisfied at all.

— Well, what can I do? We are all very curious. 

— From where I see you're just being loud and noisy in an unnecessary way. — He kept walking at the same pace trying once again to leave all of them behind, he turned one corner and the door was there.

He opened the door and got surprised, she was already there.

Seated at a clearly uncomfortable chair, Ana had her back turned to him, them, her coloured hair was tied up in a high ponytail that looked like a pom-pom, she was wearing a coat that looked way too big for her size and that was all he could catch from his point of view. He then decided to look at what she was doing, a phrase prepared for the upcoming encounter. But there, right in front of him she was, chin resting in the palm of her hand, a pencil in the other completely still and the eyes closed. He could feel the peace emanating from within her.

Such a shame it did not last.

— GOOD MORNING ANA-SSI! — Bambam and Yugyeom entered the room yelling the greeting in Korean.

— What's wrong with you guys? Hold back this mess! — Jaebeom complained in a hushed tone.

— Oh my God! She's sleeping? — They all got closer, but very carefully. — Isn't she the cutest? — Jackson reached out for her cheek but had his hand slapped away from her.

— Are you crazy? — Youngjae kept the tone down. — You are going to wake her up!

They all stayed in silence while watching her for a bit, Jaebeom was especially distracted, the reason he will use if anyone asks how he lost the moment when the guys transformed the silence into muffled laugh and Jinyoung of all of them was taking pictures. He was on his way to stop the whole mess when the door opened.

— Oh, good morning! — Dan had a hard time coming through the door while having his hands occupied by three coffee cups. — How come you guys arrived so damn early?

Jaebeom looked behind himself to discover the guys all crumpled up at the other side of the table, with perfect behaviour. He sighed, why did they have to act like this around her?

— Good morning Dan-ssi, we did our best to get here as soon as possible to surprise her, but I guess we failed. — Yugyeom helped and welcomed the stylist while the others bowed. 

— Dan-ssi, three cups of coffee is not enough for all of us. — Jackson teased.

— Oh, I wouldn't touch the coffee, unless you want to be eaten alive. — Dan's phrase got him seven pairs of eyes on him, none of them could say if he really meant what he had said. 

— Are we allowed to take a picture? — Jinyoung was the audacious one.

— What do you mean by that? — Dan was sure they were all speaking Korean, but what did they mean by that? He remembered JB's phrase to Ana the day before. A look at the leader and nothing, his eyes were unreadable to Dan.

— I guess you don't know, right, Dan-ssi? — Youngjae's turn. — But I guess it was you that did it, not us.

— We have been looking for a way to work with her for a while now, that's what they mean. — Jaebeom answered and if it wasn't so early in the morning Dan would most certainly be able to understand his expression.

— _We_? — Bambam's tone made half of them muffle their laugh while the others shushed.

— Anyway, no picture please, the way Ana is I'm pretty sure she must have image rights that could make Got7 take a run for the money. — They looked at him in disbelief, but he couldn't care less. — Can you please wait for a second outside while I wake her up? If she discovers she was sleeping in working hours with you guys here it will be chaotic, and believe me, guilty Ana is the last Ana you guys will want to deal with.

They reluctantly left with Jaebeom having to shove most of them outside, Youngjae even tried pretending he was invisible by the door and got himself a piece of scolding as well.


	4. Day three

— It's not bragging if it's true, right? — Mark had been walking alongside her for ten minutes and she was still alive, that had to be a good sign.

— I don't have enough evidence to believe so. The first day we met you and JB were the last to arrive, am I wrong? — She had freaking abandoned Kpop for a while, she hadn't even been up with their last comebacks, so she should be over them by now right?

— That's a miss for me, but... — He took a pause looking for a good argument. — Okay, I can't prove that now, you'll have to wait and see. — The biggest of the smiles were flashed in her direction, and if smiles could make someone blind…

Her phone rang with the sound of a message, she looked at it and her eyes went wide. — I'm sorry, I'll have to go make a call. — And she just turned her back to him and took some steps away.

Being around Mark was different from the other guys, not only because of the language, but the whole interaction was more comfortable around him. Maybe because he was American? She could not tell, but it was a combo, the combo she was not thinking about when a message of new problems in the studio made her phone ring.

By the end of the call with Naoki, that really was no help explaining the points of the new problem they found themselves in, she was ready to put Japan back and give her all to the boat freaking trip. It should be amazing taking how well they all received her proposal sketch the day before.

_~ day two ~_

_— I don't think I forgot anything. — She was on foot in front of them, all the seven and manager, Mijin and Haeun were thereby video call._

_— It does sound a little problematic in the private stages deal, but not so much we could not deal. — Mr Kim looked so serious she thought she would end up running away._

_— Understandable, we will have to discuss it with some other departments before giving the final confirmation, but mostly you can start the first steps of it._

_Ana made her strongest attempt to sigh without being noticed. — Okay, good. — She was reassuring herself, but the members smiled at her and Mr Kim almost did as well. That had to count as a win._

— Good morning Ana-ssi!! — The three younger boys greeted her in the most excited fashion in an understandable Korean.

— Good morning. — She smiled and bowed lightly. Her face was hot and she was trying not to care so much, the last bits of yesterday still freshly embarrassing.

  
  


_~ day two ~_

_— So I should get started. — The video call was then off and Mr Kim had left the room to answer his phone with some urgent matter._

_— Isn't it enough for today, Ms Ana? — Mark sounded very gentle, but the phrase set her face on fire anyways, behind him JB was reading something too interesting to make him pay attention to something related to the presentation. She was so not letting herself be put down because of that, let him be the shitty leader alone._

_— Oh, but it's still early, there's so much I can do. — She said that praying her face would cool down._

_— Ms Ana, is this your second cup of coffee? — Jinyoung sounded more serious than Mark. They did not know themselves well enough for an intervention, but that was looking like._

_— We do have time, there's no substantial thing that can be done before the end of the boat trip and the real pitch presentation. — That had to be a joke because even Jackson was wearing a serious tone._

_— There's no human way you could have done all this and sleep last night, ms. Ana, are you going to deny and confess you are an alien? — Her sleepy mind had to be playing tricks on her._

_— Then... — She looked at the table thinking what would be the least embarrassing way out._

_— Home, rest, tomorrow we'll work. — JB's was pointedly direct, that had been the first time she heard his voice that day. He chose to speak in English again, was she being fooled and he actually knew the language?_

  
  


— Mark here said you seemed to have had a good night of sleep. — She had to make a hell of an exercise so her mind could keep up with all the languages they used together. Jackson said after bowing with a tone that sounded way more like himself than yesterday's.

— Yes, I did! Thanks. 

— Did you already eat this morning, Ana-san? — Youngjae pretty much lit up the hall smiling at her, she couldn't help herself but be caught smiling her mouth away as well. 

— Not yet, but I was planning to... — Her plans didn't seem to matter a lot since next thing she knew Yugyeom and Youngjae had interlaced one of their arms with hers and Bambam started complaining about not having space left for him, the older ones followed behind in the same pace.

— Let's get breakfast then!

  
  


They indeed got breakfast. All of them talking and making her talk as well, some of them would still speak Korean sometimes but most of the time Mark would be by her side making her understand what was happening.

It was a fun time until she got a call from their manager.

— I'm sorry to bother this soon in the morning, ms. Ana, _—_ This one had a different voice she couldn’t put a name on, they had more than one manager, Mr Kim being the one who was more active and close. _—_ but I can't get a hold of the boys, they are not answering their phones and we have to leave for the boat trip in an hour. — Looking around herself she saw when all of them froze in place as they realised the call was about them, she most certainly was giving them _the look_.

— Don't you guys have your phone with you? — She had her hand over the mic. They gave her the worst apologetic smile on earth. — I'm with them, _—_ Bambam was the one closest to her who was gracious enough to remember his name. _—_ Mr Park, we are getting breakfast near the docs. — They gave her their best puppy look, she rolled her eyes.

— You mean they are already there? This soon?

— Yes sir, did they have to do something there before coming? — Somehow she felt kind of guilty for the mess.

— No, it's even better if they are already there, I know this isn't your job, but could you make sure they get there in time?

— Oh, of course, sir!

— Thank you so much ms. Ana, I do owe you this one!

The line went mute with the end of the call, she looked at them with a "What the hell" look.

— We were trying to give you a last piece of rest before the craziness of the boat trip comes. — Yugyeom tried his baby voice on her.

— And before you say we are deceiving you, let me just say the boat trip is all about working. — Jackson looked serious again. — There will be no slacking off for us.

She nodded not really caring, going home the previous day early and having a lot of time to put her sleep to date made her feel like she could put all the all-nighters in the world. — It's okay, I'm very well-rested enough.

— Nobody is well rested for this kind of deal. — Jinyoung chose to mumble that in English. Mark rolled his eyes.

— That's nothing much. — He patted her arm lightly.

That would have to do.

  
  


Making the boys get there in time was no problem, truly, she made them leave half an hour early just to be sure. But getting a call in the middle of the way was no joke. Naoki being hysterical at the other side of the line didn't make it any better.

They had divided themselves into two cars, JB was driving one and Jinyoung the other. She was in the first with Mark and Yugyeom.

— I'm going with Ana-ssi! — He yelled before running after the car and almost bursting into her. 

— Car full, let's go. — JB claimed in English leaving her in a "what the hell" thought again.

The others went in with Jinyoung, JB's car leading the way. They were talking and laughing when she got the call, barely able to understand a thing between the laughter and despair. Her face must have shown something when she understood "SM" from the other side of the line because Jaebeom was stopping the car in no time and she barely waited for it to finally come to a stop to get out. 

— Repeat, Naoki, I didn't understand what you meant. — The director of the studio explained again, voice now calmer and almost soothing.

— The packages were mixed.

— You told me two days ago that you were wrong about that, and the packages were delivered properly, what happened? — She started pacing just like the first day at JYPE.

— I know, and that's a done deal, the problem here is new. — A shiver went through her body and she passed a hand through her hair, barely realising what was happening to the boys as the second car parked near JB's.

— Then who's did you mix this time around? — Somehow she prayed it was some kind of a very bad joke Naoki was throwing on her because of the new job and everything. They had never dealt with this much problem in such a short amount of time.

— Yuto's and Yuta's. — Naoki talked so smoothly she felt like he was inserting a knife slowly. She totally stopped the pacing thing.

— Naoki, how... — Once again her hand went through her hair unintentionally making it messy.

— It seems that the intern mixed it while posting, I don't know the exact thing that made every shit go down, but mostly that seems to be the problem.

— MOSTLY? — She gave a full yell while forgetting that all the group she was freaking working with was there. — Naoki please, I'm getting the boys to a schedule today, and I kind of can't fully deal with it right now.

— Oh, of course, I'll check if we have someone in Korea to intercept the delivery, just focus on your work there, I'll find a way now. — She tried to breathe in the belief that it was going to go well because the studio could not afford to lose the SM contract.

— Text me news, please, I need to keep track of this whole thing, okay?

— Please chill, Ana-chan, we'll find a way here.

The end of the call came with the heavy realisation that she had just yelled in front of them, and now she had to go back to the car to make sure they would not be late. Otherwise, Mr Park and the rest of their managers were likely to tear her down.

She breathed in and touched her head trying to keep her hair calm. As if it was possible. She put her posture of seriousness and went in the car's direction.

— I'm sorry for the jump scare, please tell me we are not late yet.

The three of them were looking at her, Mark and Yugyeom seemed kind of worried, JB was all very stern and she preferred that way. The rest of the ride was uncomfortably quiet.


	5. Day four

— Are you finally free so I can get to know you? — Ana was seated on the floor of a room filled with clothing, it was pretty much the only place she found peaceful enough to draw.

— I'm always free for you guys, I completely underestimated how heavy this whole deal is, right? — Mark got a seat next to her. — I think I can get a chair for you if you want.

He denied her offer by shaking his hands and changing the subject. — Are you already sketching something for the other ones? — He knew she had started with the youngsters, them being a little less busy. The truth was that that was the first time since the whole boat trip started that she had time away from the boys, always going after them in activities or getting to know each one of them privately.

— Oh, it's nothing final, just something to gather points of personality. — She hid the sketch papers under the blank ones. — I kind of don't share a lot through my creative process.

He smiled before talking. — I'm sorry to intrude.

— So, do you want to begin it here? — She gathered all the papers and made a mention to start getting up.

— It feels like _you_ don't want to begin here.

— I kind of made this place a creative sanctuary, I'd like to keep it. — She was up and waiting for him. 

— Okay, so could I show you somewhere? — She smiled at the proposition, that was exactly what she needed, time off and working hours at the same time.

— Lead the way.

  
  


When Mark offered to show her “somewhere” she surely wasn’t expecting it to be every single corner of the boat, that for God's sake, how could they call something that huge a boat? She was not calculating but it felt like they spent quite some time at that.

— It’s time for lunch already. — He looked at his watch and her. — I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time left, and you also still have people to get to know, right?

— Oh, it's okay, you can get going! I guess I collected enough things to start working with already. — She smiled at him a little forcefully, she would have to complain with Dan, the pill he had given her was already wearing out.

— Good, good, so are you coming?

She looked at him as if it didn't make much sense, the freaking boat trip was officially being a nightmare. — Where? — He laughed before answering, and she would enjoy his laugh if she was not giving all she had to stop spacing out. 

— Lunch, as I said it's lunchtime, I have some activities after that.

— Oh, I won't be having lunch now, I kind of need to get a hold of a situation before that. — The situation being: she hoping to find a way not to throw all her breakfast up because of the magical seasickness she was getting.

— Are you sure? I was hoping we could get more time. — He frowned a bit, and boy didn't she want to make it go away?

— So so sure, I'll get going, we can catch up later, okay?

She never heard the end of it, because she found a corner in no time.

  
  


— If you don't come out I won't be able to give you the freaking medicine, Ana, come on! — It had been more than five minutes since Dan had arrived at the front of the bathroom Ana had described through a message. It took him too long to find, I mean the freaking boat was too big for their good. — There's still too much work to be done. 

She opened the door barely holding herself upright. Fast enough she was back to seating at the toilet, head low and thrown in her hands. He waited silently until she put her hand out asking for the pill.

— Did you throw up? — He kneeled before her, hand going through her sweaty forehead.

— If I had this shit would be the death of you. — Her weak remark stole a smile from him.

— Weren't you so against carrying pills we wouldn't have a problem like this. 

— Go back to work. — She clearly had more to say, but could not manage to keep going.

— Let me take you to the resting room, do you still have something for today?

— JB.

He looked at her waiting for more, but it got clear that it was all, so Dan had to interpret what she meant. — Do you still have to get to know him?

— His schedule is packed, I had practically no time with Jinyoung either. — She looked at him with the lids half-opened. — Will it make me better fast?

— As if I would let you work like this. — How come they had never worked together in a boat, _and_ he let the fact that she was pretty much nobody because she was that freaking seasick pass?

Without talking anymore he used physical strength to get her up and move her away from the bathroom. He could not complain about the effort he had to make, give it to Ana to be light enough for him not to be bored to complain. Or maybe he was feeling a little guilty for barely taking note of how badly she was feeling.

— Dan-ah. — She called before he could take his leave. She was calling him in a Korean way now? — Thank you for taking care of me. — She sent him the laziest of the smiles with her eyes closed, the phrase in Portuguese. She was not going to remember that when she woke up later.

He snapped a picture before leaving.

  
  


Ana was woken by the sound of her phone ringing. One of her phones. She was in a half-lit room and could barely remember how she got there.

— Ana-san we will need help with this. — That got her completely woken up and seated straight in the blink of an eye. That was bad, Naoki's voice was weird in a way that clearly meant bad news.

— What happened now? — She made an abrupt movement getting up that made her distracted enough not to realize someone was entering the room.

Naoki spent no time stalling: the outfits had indeed been delivered wrongly, and Yuto would receive Yuta's clothing and vice versa. 

Somehow she found a way to not succumb to the news.

— I'm in a freaking boat right now Naoki, when will it be delivered to them? — "I will not be defeated by that" She kept telling herself.

— In three days, if there's nothing you can do from there I'll find a way to send someone or even go. I don't know. — He was desperate as well.

— Oh, no need. — She _had_ to find a way. — I'm going to find a way. — She would. 

She ended the call with the deepest sigh she had ever experienced. That week.

— Is everything okay? — The voice felt familiar, but somehow weird as well.

She turned around slowly to find Jaebeom there, standing by the door, somehow looking like he was waiting for her. For a second her reflex response almost made her simply answer his question.

— How did you know I'd be here?

— Dan-san did and told me. — Only then she realized he was speaking a language she could understand. How did she not know about that? — Wasn't I supposed to come?

— Since when do you speak Japanese? — "And how did I not know about that?"

— It has been a while I guess, did you not know? — He smiled as if it was the most obvious thing, and she so wanted to get mad at him for that, but she could not master getting mad at him over said smile.

— Well, you did speak in English until now, right? — And all that was left to her was wait as he approached the couch most slowly.

He gave away a half-smile and she saw red. At least his face seemed red, but he couldn't possibly be blushing right? — You should get to know me, that's the purpose of all of this right?

She took a second to check the situation, and unfortunately, her mind was too full for her to begin an argument about Jaebeom’s choice of language. — Yes, can we begin?

— Youngjae told me you asked him to show you his favourite place here, — He had the tiniest smile and she saw red all over again, I mean, he couldn't possibly be blushing _again_. — Should I do that?

— Not really... — She turned away from him as if to take something, he got mildly interested until she turned back with three phones in hand. — Do you want to do something specific? I'm kind of down because of this whole boat thing, so if we could just do something around here I would prefer. — She turned all her phones off.

She said all of that without taking too much of how he was reacting, and he was weirdly fond of that. She eyed him expectantly.

— I could show you some songs we are preparing for the next comeback? 

The way he said that made her feel like telling him she wasn't waiting for another question, but the weirdness of his actions made her laugh a little. The big point was that beside Jaebeom everyone was acting very comfortable around her, and that was not what Ana was anticipating. While working with idols she had found herself in the most different situations, but the way they were around her was nothing she had ever experienced before. So Jaebeom's shyness, or whatever it was, was not what she was expecting from the leader, but she would not complain.

— Oh, manager Kim did tell me about this, right? I kind of forgot about it.

— It's okay, I brought a sheet with the lyrics translated for you, so you'll be able to understand it properly.

She smiled thankfully while taking the paper he was offering, eyeing the lyrics she got a little surprised. It was named "Dream". No one could blame her, but she was a bit of an over-explaining person, so she was waiting for more words of what should be the thing that would show the way of the concept she would create.

— Here. — Jaebeom offered her one side of his headphones, which troubled her even more. Wouldn't he, as the owner of the creativity of the song, want her to have a full experience quality-wise? — I have some of them on my phone, would it be okay for us to share?

— Of course! — She took it and put it in her ear.

"Dream" would have to be enough for her to create a more than a decent concept, I mean, Got7 was the group of Look, Lullaby, Miracle and other one worded title tracks, right? 


	6. Day five

Waking up next morning Ana had the surprise of finding Dan resting by her side.

— Do tell me you slept. — She mumbled, still stirring to make her body awake.

— Oh dear, I so did! — He looked at the time on the screen of his phone on the bedside. — I heard from the boys you made a lot of progress yesterday hmm, how did you manage to function in such bad shape?

— Managing shit being in a bad shape is kind of my motto, didn't you know? — Seated she yawned the sleep away. — Why am I not feeling like shit anymore? 

— I guess we came to a stop already.

  
  


_~ day four ~_

_— Wait, is this indeed about a dream coming true? No romantic metaphor? — Ana smiled excitedly at him, the song was golden and provided her with so much material her mind was overwhelmed._

_— Kind of... — As he spoke her eyes didn't leave him at all. — We do have more material though, this one doesn't need to be the title._

_— Oh please, if you show me something better than this I think my brain will shut down from overdrive._

_All she got from that was a weird look from him. It took a laugh from her lips._

  
  


— Am I late or something? Did I embarrass myself and can't remember?

— Nana, dear. — He patted her hand gently with the fondest smile gracing his face. — You were the lady you always are.

— You sound weird though.

At that, he tilted his head weighting if he should start that conversation early in the morning. — They are being weird, sometimes they act like they have been trying to collaborate with you for a while.

— They did act as if they already knew shit about me.

— Sorry, that's all I have, I don't know them enough.

— Not my top priority now. — She shrugged. 

  
  


_~ day four ~_

_— So you really like it?_

_That made her laugh, even more, eyebrows knitted together. — Of course, I do! And starting a year with a dreamy concept is so rich I can't put in words, and since it's not about a specific someone it makes it more relatable! — She was getting excited._

_— Oh. — He breathed out._

_— Even when it's for the fans the feelings can be lost in the middle of the way, but I think it's like. — She took a breath, hands floating around herself trying to make up for the lack of words she could come up with to explain what she had in mind. — Everyone has a dream, the idea of pursuing it_ and _getting it in the end, is amazing. — Eyes shining._

_And at that, he thought that maybe he was open to lose himself in those._

  
  


— Ana-saaaan. — The three youngest were coming in her direction. She gave them a half-smile behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses. — Are you not better yet? — Youngjae asked, taking her bag from her hands.

— Oh, there's nothing to worry about, I'm sure I'll be okay as soon as we get out. — She bowed.

— Next time they show up with activities in a boat we’ll remember them it's not the best idea. — Jaebeom appeared by her side, way more talkative since their interactions the day before.

— Do tell them I'm the one to whom you belong, please. — Dan murmured in Portuguese making her smile.

— Dan dear. — He could feel her glare behind dark lenses. — I'm no one's possession, check? 

— Do tell them that, check? — He fastened his steps getting a little distance from them. He snatched her bag away from Youngjae on his way.

  
  


— No way! We came with Ana-ssi, respect the placements! — Yugyeom and Bambam were bantering in front of Jaebeom's car. 

— You have space there and I know it. — Bambam was out of the car and the others inside, Mark playing on his phone, Yugyeom entertaining the Thai and Jinyoung seated at the front talking to Jaebeom.

— What's happening guys? — She approached calmly, being away from the boat was doing wonders to her. 

— Ana-ssi is here guys! — Yugyeom slapped Jaebeom's car seat, yet, got away with it, all of them besides Mark, too invested in his game, now focusing on her.

— Come come, Ana-san, we were waiting for you. — Jaebeom came out from his door followed by Jinyoung, Yugyeom stayed in, too afraid to leave and lose his spot.

— But I still have to check where my bag is.

— I took it from him. — "No Ana, that doesn't sound weird at all,” she told herself, they had talked about leaving together the day before, so there was no reading too much into that.

— We’ll see each other later in the meeting Ana-san. — Jinyoung bowed and grabbed Bambam's shoulder on his way. — Say goodbye so we can go.

— Oh... — She watched the interaction in awe, Jaebeom and Jinyoung eyed the younger together. — we'll catch up later Ms Ana! — He waved loudly.

— See you. — She waved back.

— Okay! I'll be dropping you guys at home and then I'll take Ana-ssi to her thing, okay, tomorrow we’ll meet at JYPE? — The suddenly talkative leader.

As she didn't understand anything besides the "okay" part she looked at him expectantly.

— He was just telling us our itinerary, Ms Ana. — Mark told her from a glimpse of her face through the mirror, she thanked him. 

  
  


_~ day four ~_

_— So I'll be able to collect it tomorrow?_

_It was nighttime and Ana refrained from pacing around. First, because the seasickness was about to kill her, she could feel it; second because pacing around made it worse._

_— Yes, yes, I know it'll be tight because of your schedule, but then you'll have more than a day to deliver to both SM and CUBE. — He made a pause with a sigh. — I'm sorry I couldn't make it easier, Ana-chan._

_— Don't worry, just make sure it doesn't happen anymore, okay?_

_— I'll be sending you the address, any problems I'll be by the phone._

_The call ended with Ana sighing, once again, she would have to divide herself into two parts if she was to present the concept and collect the package._

_— There you are. — The door opened accompanied by Jaebeom's soft voice, after him, the whole group entered shushing themselves._

_— You should've told us about the boat thing, Ana-san, wouldn't it be better if you stayed back?_

_— Don't overwhelm her, Youngjae-ya. — Jaebeom had strode right to the table at the end of the room._

_— Sorry, Ana-ssi. — Youngjae looked sadly at her in an apologetic way._

_— It's okay. — She smiled and held his hand for half a second. — Damn, I'm sorry. — She remembered it was not proper to do things like that with the level of their intimacy._

_— I really like that you are laid back in the interactions, Ms Ana. — Mark's remark made her blush and all of them laugh._

_It could sometimes overwhelm her that she had to change the way she acted so frequently towards people around her, although they didn't seem to care a lot._

_— Will you be coming back with us tomorrow morning? — Yugyeom sat on the floor near her feet._

_— Oh, I don't know, didn't really make a plan or anything. — And shit, she really hadn't. — I may go back with Dan, or get a cab?_

_— No need, you can come with us. — Jinyoung was the one with the offer._

_— You do need more bonding time, don’t you Ms Ana? — Bambam said that in a playful tone she couldn’t read into._

_— Stop bothering her, Bambam. — Jaebeom came back with a bowl of some kind of soup, and maybe if she was not dying from the seasickness she would want some. — Here._

_He had found a way to shove a complaining Yugyeom away and to kneel in front of her while offering the bowl._

_— What? — Everyone was too silent for her good, Jaebeom still kneeled and her face getting hotter by the second._

_— Dan-san told us you weren’t eating properly because of the seasickness, so we brought something for you. — He held his arms straighter and nearer her._

_— We? — Jackson broke the members' silence making Bambam laugh and getting Mark to hit his head._

_— Shut up, won’t you? — In Korean, so she couldn’t understand._

  
  


Waking up for the second time that day, Ana found herself alone in the car, Jaebeom and Mark talking outside.

— Don’t be late, okay? Yesterday she said her ideas were elaborated, so we won’t be up for resting anytime soon. 

— You’re telling _me_ not to be late? Really? — Mark laughed and was about to be interrupted by Jaebeom when he looked somewhere else inside the car. — Did you have a good sleep, Ms Ana? We’ll talk tomorrow, right?

With that, he turned away and went to the direction where his house should be. But why? Ana was pretty sure they were going straight to the meeting where she would present the concept and they would begin everything. Right? — Why aren’t we at JYPE?

— Ana-san, the meeting will happen tomorrow, they went home to unpack and rest. — Jaebeom was looking at her now all fresh and smiling. — Didn’t anyone text you about it?

She fished one of her phones from her handbag, then another, but of course it would be the last one right? There were messages and even calls from Naoki. — Cacete. — She cursed in Portuguese.

— I should take you to the place to receive the order, right? — Jaebeom was typing on his phone while talking to her.

— How would you know about that? — She asked in complete disbelief. Was she still asleep?

— Dan-san told me, however, he didn’t know the address just yet, so I’m glad you woke up at the right time. 

Ana was most certainly losing her mind, how could he be saying those things? Despite that, there was no time for her to dwell on that because Naoki was giving her the tenth call of the morning.

  
  


— And how did Dan know about that, Naoki-kun? — Ana was whispering to the phone while being taken home by Jaebeom, who was pretty much her private driver that day. — That came out of nowhere!

— Ana-chan, these are not working hours anymore, and we did work until late to make sure everything would go down smoothly. — He had the most tired voice and for his sake, it was his day off _and_ all the problems had been resolved already.

— Is Rika-chan at home?

— Yes, she is, wanna talk to her? — He was whispering just like her, and Ana finally understood why.

— Cacete, I’m _so_ sorry Naoki-kun, turn off the phone and go back to her. — She facepalmed. — Damn it, this will be the death of me. — She heard a muffled laugh from Naoki. — Make sure to spend quality time with her, turn off your company phone okay?

He greeted her with a goodbye and ended the call. She was not taking the risk of getting on Rika’s bad side, and Naoki did deserve his days off.

She started typing a message of complaint to Dan, making sure all the time not to use emojis so he would understand how mad at him she was. Ana was an all emoji person when it was about messaging close people, but before she could finish writing, a song started playing and she lost her train of thought.

— I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask if it was okay to play something. — He felt her shift even with eyes on the road. 

— Is that for the upcoming album as well? — She didn’t care at all for the forgotten message she was previously working on.

— It is, I only showed you Dream yesterday, right? — They had spent the whole day talking about the concept, although he hadn’t shown her anything else. — This one is by Jinyoug, we came up with a variety of things that includes all of us somehow. 

— This sounds amazing! — She looked at him in awe this time, her eyes had previously been glued to the name of the song being played. — But I guess we’re arriving already. — It wasn’t propositional, yet she sounded saddened by that.

— Not a problem. — He said before taking a turn to the left instead of what the GPS had indicated. — I guess now we have more time.

She laughed by the unpredictability of the moment, the GPS’s voice all confused by his wrong turn. They would now have time to listen to the rest of the album.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> From now on our chapters will include time skipping and more flashbacks, but I hope everything will still be understandable.


	7. Day nineteen

— I already told you I’ll be there, Naoki, no need to worry. — Ana was walking through JYPE hallways with a lot in her hands, the cellphone badly tucked between her shoulder and ear. — Just give her the phone so I can end this, ok? 

— I’m not overreacting Nana-chan, I just want to make sure I’ll launch you perfectly, this is like your debut and I’m in your place, right? — Rika sounded so tense Ana was afraid she would absorb that, and the last thing she needed was to get overwhelmed about things she couldn’t control at the moment, so she had to turn Rika off.

— Rika-chan, dear, I have to correct the colour of the outfits for three sets of concepts because I’m a freaking megalomaniac, I have to watch them dance with the official clothing and we are going to start releasing stills, so you know how crazy my mind is right now, and I can’t seem to think about Japan right now, so I need you to handle Astro so we can all be happy and survive this month since we have a comeback there and I’ll have one here. — All of that in one intake.

— Nana-chan, please breathe, we are going to do very well! Ganbatte! — At that Ana’s heart got filled with warmth, Rika was one of the most hardworking and zealous people she ever got to work with, and in normal conditions, they would be in perfect sync, but now with Rika all over the world searching places to open new franchises of the studio and Ana working in Korea, they had lost a bit of that. — Call me when you have time, then, I’ll be handling things here.

— Ganbatte Ana-chan! — Naoki’s voice came from afar before the call ended.

  
  


_~ day six ~_

_— The concept is based solely on the song Dream, being divided into five parts, each one of these will be the dream of some of you guys. — She pointed at them, smiling politely. — So we will have completely different types of visuals in each dream, which includes the way we record, colour pallets, face expressions, almost every visual thing. I’ll be pitching a suggestion of what each dream would look like, but it’s open for discussion if you guys think it’s too different from what you guys are. The eighth part is the part that is ‘looking at you’ — She made quotation marks with her hands — by that I mean you guys interacting with the owner of the fifth dream, which will be a concept I’ve thought about already but will explain later on with more detail. That said, we’ll have five kinds of stages, the dance routine should be the same, but the way you act while doing it has to change. — She stopped to take a breath for a change. And just like that, she was interrupted._

_— Well, I like that, I’d say give it a go. — Ms Lee said, but Ana couldn’t quite understand._

_— I like it too, and since you guys of have complete freedom this year, it’s mostly up to you. — Ms Do said that to the members, and in Korean._

_Of course, everyone clapped their hands before remembering her._

_— Oh, Ana-san! They like it so we can proceed freely. — As Youngjae told her that, she felt like she could breathe again._

_— I’m sorry for not speaking your language, Ms Ana! — Ms Do smiled apologetically. — We will now leave you be, okay?_

_They got up and left, the three managers, Ms Do and Ms Lee, the latter followed by Mr Kim, the translator._

_And then it was just them._

  
  


She released a breath that seemed to be stuck inside. Now she just had to take those things to their room and have the stylists sort everything out until they were there. If she got to make a list she would be able to calm down, because by then the warmth from Rika and Naoki’s cheering had gone away, and she was leaving her phone behind since it fell because of her poor balance.

— Asking for help now and then is not a sin, Ana-san. — Jaebeom appeared by her side as she tried to decide if she should go back for the phone or just go back for it later. — Can I hold one of these in exchange for this one? — He had her phone in hand and a smile gracing his face.

Why on Earth was he so early? He would usually be in the studio or home at that time in the morning; and yes, she knew their schedules by heart. She complied with his suggestion and had the two bigger bags taken away from her hands, the phone given back as promised.

— You are early today. Good morning!

— We finally wrapped up the songs that were missing so this part is ready for release. — He had a smile that was so genuine she felt the corners of her lips quirking up as well. — Oh, yesterday Yuta made a vlive, were you the stylist for that as well?

— Oh, vlive? I don’t think so... for this comeback, they only signed for his official outings. Yuto is another story, I just check his, since the senior stylists are in the contract, but we are responsible for everything pretty much. — They arrived in the room. — Just like we’ll be working this year. We also have to discuss what you guys like inside the concept so I can design for the more informal occasions.

— You are very committed to this, aren't you? — He left the bags near the stylists’ table of work. 

— Oh, Jaebeom-san, I can’t find in myself a way to commit if not fully. — She smiled at him saying that and greeting the arriving stylists right after. The day was on.

  
  


_~ day six ~_

_— Congratulations, congratulations! — And just like that, the boys were dancing, jumping and celebrating around her. She couldn’t help herself from getting excited. Their project was going to come true. One of them took her hand and she was suddenly led to some jumping and dancing around with them._

_— Thank you, guys! Thank you! — As they looked at her expectantly she felt her excitement go up, their eyes shining, even though they only knew her from a couple of days. — How-wh-what did they mean saying you now have full freedom?_

_— They mean it’s all up to us. — Youngjae had the largest and brightest of the smiles aimed at her. — It’s a gift._

_— Mainly to Jaebeom-hyung and Jinyoung-hyung since they will be out for a while. — Bambam maintained the spark inside his eyes._

_— And are you guys satisfied with me? — She looked at each one of them because it was essential to her that they were sincerely satisfied with the work. — It’s clearly a big deal, right?_

_— We are very glad to be able to have you working with us, Ana-san. — Jaebeom was the closest to her after the calming moment but looked down when she spared him her sight._

_— We asked for you, and it’s a pleasure to be able to be a part of one of your projects. — Jinyoung complimented her with a solemn face._

_— Our golden boys of the year were responsible for that this time. — Mark gave Jaebeom and Jinyoung a thumbs up making the leader blurt threats out in Korean, she got that from a laughing Jackson._

  
  


— There’s a phone ringing you guys! Please answer it so we can work in peace! — Ana was drawing a substitute piece for a design one of the guys hadn’t loved right away. Even though there was no real complaint. Ana would always do her best to make sure her artists weren’t only delivering the best they could but were also having the most satisfactory time and project for their taste. Not only the industry.

— Ana-san, it’s your phone that is ringing. — One of the junior stylists pointed to a table code to where she was standing beside. She thanked her sheepishly and rolled her chair to the table to take the call without getting up.

— Ana-san you are being needed in the rehearsal room, the boys are ready to dance with the clothing we already have here. — At that, she had to curse inwards, she would have to divide her into more Anas if she was really to handle all of that.

And being in Japan tomorrow night.

— Did they get used with the outfits already? I need to watch after they get a feeling of how it’s going, and after that, I’ll be needing them to discuss a bunch of details. Could you call me again then?

She received an affirmative and the call was over, she was very strict with time management, but she did miss people who said goodbye before the end. Maybe it was just her missing Dan.

  
  


Later that morning Ana could be found seated on the floor of Got7’s rehearsal room, she was the only one not sweating, but they could swear she was doing it internally, after dancing for her for the third time she was silently revising her notes, clearly not satisfied enough.

— You guys say it’s comfortable, right? Are you sure none of the outfits is making your movements somehow harder? We still have time to change things before the shooting days, but it should be now or never. — She looked at them very expectantly, there were still two rounds of outfits to be tested, and even though she wanted everything to go smoothly, she was not buying that.

— You don’t have to ask that every time we give you an affirmative, Ana. — Mark spoke affectionately and she tried to accept that. Her despair should not reach them, she should help make them calm.

— I’ll believe you then, let’s go for the tech concept, I don’t think we’ll be having problems with the chill one, and if we do the other stylists can help with tomorrow. — She smiled waiting for them to go change, but she only had Yugyeom, and a hesitant Bambam being pushed by Jinyoung leaving.

— Are you not going to be here tomorrow? — Youngjae asked pouting, the others a little more serious but not satisfied either.

— Are you going to Japan already? — Jackson this time. — That was very fast, right?

— It’s not a comeback, you guys, I’ll be back in no time, don’t worry.

— Is it the Astro thing? — Jaebeom was half leaning into Youngjae while asking. Why couldn’t they just go change?

— It is indeed, but before Astro, I have to deal with Got7, — She left her sheets aside to clap her hands. — so if you guys could go change it would be great, we still have a lot to do today. — They looked at her pouting, and she could not believe she was younger than all of them. — Even the younger ones are already changing, guys! Please let’s pretend you are all grown up today, right?

At that, they huffed and exited the room. She smiled while revising her notes once more.

  
  


— I know that, but it feels like we used to interact more when we didn’t work for the same company, we talked more when I was in another country, Dan! — It was lunchtime and Ana had miraculously found time to sneak a call to Dan, it had been a week since they had last seen each other, she missed him. 

— Let’s just go out when you come back from your debut, ok? It’ll be closer to their comeback but we will find the time. — He sounded tired and she could not blame anyone for that, ITZY had just made a comeback and the promotion part was taking everything from him.

— It’s a deal then, please remember to sleep ok? You sound awful. — She meant the best from that.

— I can’t believe I’m receiving resting advice from you, I must’ve hit rock bottom.

— I love you too! — They giggled, said their goodbyes and she went back to the lunch table. — Why didn’t you guys start yet?

— We were waiting for you Ana-san! — Yugyeom offered her a hand, she half blushed and accepted his hand, the other touching the heart spot.

— You guys spoil me. — They all laughed and she sat at the seat reserved between Youngjae and Jaebeom. — What are we eating today? We should not take too long before going back.

— You have to respect lunchtime, Ana! And it will be the last lunch we’ll be having with you in some time.

— The way you guys say that it feels like I’m never coming back.

— You wouldn’t dare, I don’t think our group could survive that. — Jackson, seated by Jaebeom, said in a tease.

— Look, the food is coming! — And they went to radio silence as they started eating.

  
  


Going back to JYPE Ana and the boys found themselves riding a van, it was a way to make all of them ride the same car. She had won the argument with Mr Kim; who had been the only one to have second thoughts about it; very easily “I need to bond with all of them as one, Mr Kim, it’s part of the process.” And just like that, they would go places together in the van, bonding like Ana suggested.

— How will we bond today? — Jaebeom was the driver that day, Ana at the passenger seat by his side gave him a look. — What is it? Don’t we always do this when in the van?

— I could swear you hated bonding time. — She said in surprise.

That made the boys behind laugh while Jaebeom’s face was coloured red and Jinyoung tried to make them stop.

— Ana, dear! — Bambam raised his voice from the back. — Bonding time is Jaebeom-hyung's favourite time of day! — He received a slap in his arm from someone she couldn’t say who.

— Can you guys sing today? — She went for the subject change, she still hadn’t received Dream in its original form from Jaebeom and was a little ashamed to ask. She preferred that version rather than the official one.

— What version? — With his eyes on the road, Jaebeom asked, his face colour going back to normal.

— Could it be the original one? — She pleaded excitedly, her voice giving her away.

— Want to make a log of it, Ana-san? — Jinyoung asked with a smile on his face, she was happy she wouldn’t have to ask for that.

— I guess it would be good, right? — She looked at one by one waiting for them to give her permission.

The next thing she knew she was immersed in them singing her favourite song of their upcoming album in the version she first heard at the boat. She would use that in her time away.

  
  


_~ day fifteen ~_

_— Is she late? I guess she’s human after all. — Bambam beamed from his seat on the couch that faced the door, all seven were staring at it intently._

_— Bam-ah, we’re early, she’s not late._

_— Early? — His eyes popped and all of the six waited for the upcoming remarks, the teasing on. — But JB-hyung’s here already._

_— Bam-ah… — Jinyoung patted the younger’s thigh while being between him and the leader killer stare. — Please keep your life safe, okay?_

_They all laughed but knew the Thai wasn’t wrong, because since Ana’s arrival in their routine Jaebeom had stopped being late to places. She arrived two minutes earlier than the time scheduled nonetheless, arms full with designs and garments, it was the first time they would see the clothes properly._

_— Good afternoon, you guys! — She smiled through the hard time she was having to organize all the things she had with her._

_— Ana-san, would you like some help? — Youngjae offered but kept some distance._

_— Oh, I’m so sorry about this! I… — Half of the things fell to the floor before she could accept it. — I’m kind of clumsy as you can see._

_And before she could look at them to feel embarrassed were flaring up in red, but their eyes gave her some comfort, all of them kind and fond. Youngjae and Jaebeom personally approaching the fallen things, putting them on the table before she could offer a hand._

_— Thank you…_

_— You’re welcome, Ana-san. — It looked like they were posing for a photoshoot while serving her their best smile._

_— I… I started from the hardest, meaning Mark and Jackson’s concept. — She took seven sheets of paper from a plastic folder that had all the designs from the concept and gave them theirs._

_— I still don’t understand why I’m not royalty like Bam and Jinyoung._

_— Aish, you were bragging about being the futuristic fencer yesterday, Son-ah, don’t be a bother now. — Jinyoung scolded the Chinese crushing Ana’s worries away before it could flare-up. — Are these the most elaborated ones?_

_— Yes yes! — Ana beamed. — It’s not a new concept for you, but I changed the approach, once we select the designs we’ll be working on the scenarios while ending the outfit's production._

_— I like mine! — Yugyeom lifted his hand like a school kid, something Ana had implemented in a very short amount of time._

_They were energetic and could be loud at times, so she had to use her professor's way once and make arrangements to keep the order. Sometimes she would have Jackson and Youngjae lifting their hands even though they were older than her. Mark barely talked in those situations, Jaebeom waited for her to end and Bambam was a work in progress, his members having to silence him sometimes. “I’m sorry, Ana!”_

_— I thought that I and JB-hyung would get more attention since this is our last year… — He said that after she motioned to him after his hand shot up. — Not the maknae._

_— Oh, hyung! — Yugyeom whined, but Ana was fast to prevent some bickering._

_— Just because Yugyeom-kun’s getting a concept for himself doesn’t really mean he’ll get more attention or something, I personally like working with fair screen time distribution, so—_

_— Don’t worry, Ana-san. — Jaebeom smiled, interrupting her for the first time. — Jinyoung just likes teasing our giant baby. — He handed her his sheet back telling her he was very fond of his selection. — Jinyoung-ah! — He snickered when she turned away from him. — Don’t tease her on your way of teasing Yugyeom, please._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So our dynamics with the flashbacks will be increasing as the chapters pass by. Have you checked me on Tumblr (AkaIjb)? I'll start posting some extra scenes in some time there, so you can check once I tell you about it around here. Thank you for sparing your time, comments are always welcomed!


	8. Day twenty-two

Ana never thought great deals about making commutes between Japan and Korea, even when she had to meet a group in their original country she would never get an effect from jet lag or time differences. Maybe because she had never been _that_ tired. Just being with Astro was always something that would tire her up, it was almost impossible not to get infected by their high energy, but afterwards, she would frequently need a good night of sleep. And that was even before making an appearance with all of them. 

Now she felt like dying.

And it was not enough to sleep all the trip back to Korea, because before she could get involved in any kind of dream the plane was landing. Where she had a surprise: there were freaking reporters waiting for her at the check-out. What had happened in her little time of plane isolation?

She decided to call Naoki before freaking out, even though that didn’t help.

— There are fan clubs in your name, somehow a couple of photos of you from before were uploaded as well, and…

— And what, Naoki? 

— Your airport outfit is being very well received too. — She could hear the smile from his voice. She wanted to cry, but that had to be the sleepy part of her brain being too sensitive.

— Could you please let me talk to Rika-chan? I kind of need help. — And something in her tone probably gave her away, because Rika’s voice came very fast after Naoki’s silence.

— What happened, Nana-chan? — Rika was worried, so Ana would have to sugar coat how badly she was feeling.

— Can you get me a car to JYPE? I’m kind of hiding in a bathroom right now, why on Earth do people want to take pictures of me? — Maybe she was just too exasperated to sugar coat something then.

— You’re hiding in a bathroom? Why? — Somehow Rika sounded less worried, Ana was hoping she wouldn’t make fun of her, her sleepy state couldn’t handle that at the moment.

— I didn’t plan to make any kind of interaction with the media today, Rika! Naoki says there are pictures of me out there already, I didn’t plan this shit! — Her hurried voice was a clear show of how flustered she was. And maybe, just maybe, being in control was _that_ important to Ana, not just because she was a control freak, but because she would base her self confidence in that fact. Being in control was pretty much the base of Ana’s inner balance. And it was way easier to lose that in her sleepy state.

  
  


— Did you see this one? It’s beautiful! — Bambam was in the resting room searching the web for Ana’s pictures, it was a rarity to be working with someone less active on social media than Jinyoung.

— I’ve got a perfect one, but she’s smiling right next to Eunwoo-ya, I don’t think Jaebeom-hyung would like to have this one. — From his lying position on the floor, Bambam held the phone up so Yugyeom could see it.

— You guys? — Mark barked from outside of the room and burst inside right after. — We have to end our parts of the log! If Ana gets here before it’s ready we’ll be having problems.

— Did everyone finish it already? — Yugyeom pressed his face against the couch. — We are so tired. — He whined.

— I know, we all are, but the shooting days are close, so we have to give our best, okay? — The younger ones looked at him with their lids only half-open, they would have to look alive before doing any kind of recording, their fans would worry if they looked like that in front of cameras.

— Is Jaebeom-hyung back to the studio? — Bambam mastered a smile before shaking his phone in Mark’s direction. — We sorted a bunch of things for him since he lost the transmission yesterday.

— No, he and Jinyoung went out for a schedule, they got to do it earlier since Ana-ya will be coming back today.

At that Yugyeom put his head up from the couch. — Ana-ya? — He had a wicked smile lingering in his sleepy face.

— You guys should freshen up before the recording, you look like shit.

The comment made them laugh, but also start getting up from their lay position. Getting out of the room Mark had a smile that mirrored Yugyeom’s, Jaebeom was clearly going to need help if he wanted to make things move with Ana.

  
  


Somehow Ana made her way away from the airport to the car without being spotted by more reporters.

— You should learn how to drive in Korea, it would make your life easier. 

— I’m still trying my best to understand why Rika put me up with you guys instead of a driver. — She was safe although complaining, classic sleepy Ana. — How come didn’t she think that the possibility of showing up around one of you guys would make my life messier?

— We do love you too Ana! — Mark was on his knees on the seat in front of her.

— Put on your seatbelt, Mark Lee, don’t want to have a kid’s death on my list.

That made all of them laugh, they always thought she looked her funniest when sleepy. She shushed them in a second, the van stopping all the time because of the traffic.

— I’m glad Ms Rika fixed us up with you, these guys are dying without you here. — Jaehyun smiled politely.

— Never said the opposite, I heard you came to SM earlier this month to deliver some of Yuta’s outfits. — Mark was now seated and somehow that made her way more at ease. — Why didn’t you look for us? It has been so long! — And it has, working with NCT 127 as a group instead of only Yuta had happened when? Almost a year before the whole Got7 experience.

— You know how it happens, go to Japan, ask for me and I miraculously show up, right? — She mustered a good smile with her phrase, which wasn’t enough to take a smile from Mark, Jhonny was completely silent by his side using his phone, Jaehyun by hers. Haechan asleep also next to Mark and Taeil expectantly looking at her. It was shitty that she couldn’t offer them more, but that was what they had. — Maybe you guys could call me when you are free so we can do something together? — She didn’t expect that, having ended a relationship with one of them made her think that they would just grow apart. Yet, the others were still very affectionate towards her. 

— Really? — Mark had his eyes open in full capacity, she couldn’t hold a laugh back.

— Of course! Just make sure to find a good private place, right? — As always.

— As always. — Johnny said after his long silence, she would’ve given him a harsh retort if there wasn’t anyone else around, and even in her sleepy state, she was not going to give in to that, so she went for the funny way out.

— Indeed. — She said as the door was opened.

— We are here Ms Ana! — Behind their driver, she could see the JYPE building.

— Thank you so much, you guys! — She held a hand that was offered to her on her way out, she only realised it was Jhonny’s once he retrieved it, she slid her mask up before talking. — Let’s not lose contact, ok?

  
  


Jaebeom was asleep when their van parked before the underground building entry, so Jinyoung had to shake him awake so they could go inside. He yawned his way out from the van and into the building. The elevator didn’t take long to come.

Having a lot of schedules near the comeback season was never a good idea, but neither he nor Jinyoung could complain about that since they had been given freedom for a year. That was enough of a gift for the effort. He was almost sleeping his way up when the elevator stopped at the ground floor, and Ana, of all people, came in. 

— Good morning. — She said in a hurry after taking off a disposable mask, eyes behind dark glasses. — Oh, are you guys just coming in? — Her excitement seemed tired just like the rest of her figure.

— We just came from a schedule. — Jinyoung smiled and bowed his head, she did the same to both of them.

— I thought you guys were going to go later. — She had her phone in her hands in no time.

— We asked them to make it earlier so we could be here when you arrived. — He couldn’t even move, let alone bow. Being _that_ tired in front of Ana couldn’t possibly be healthy. If someone else from the group were in there he wouldn’t hear the end of that, he thanked God for Jinyoung’s presence.

And just as his eyes went up from the floor they got caught in her deep stare. Even behind dark lenses, he could tell she was analysing them, but mostly him, since Jinyoung had his eyes peacefully closed. 

— Have you guys taken time to rest lately? — She asked, stifling a yawn of her own.

— As much as possible. — He went for a smile that failed, but, I mean, he did sleep all his way back from the shooting site.

— You guys have to take proper rest. — She took two steps in his directions, and even the largest elevator in the building couldn’t hold that much without having them near. Too near he would say. 

She didn’t even have to bend to take a good look at his face, did he look that bad? The doors opened before she could say anything but for his surprise, the rest of the group was waiting for them at their floor. 

— If anyone else is as tired Jaebeom-san and Jinyougn-san please hold one of your hands up. — Ana said before turning, and he was nothing if not utterly surprised, did she plan that all along? The two Koreans held their hands up, and after she repeated the phrase in English, Mark, Jackson and Bambam followed suit.

She said incomprehensive things in a language none of them could master catching her phone and typing furiously.

— Ana? — Jackson tested before anyone could do anything, the elevator threatened to close the doors with the three still inside. She hadn’t even greeted the others, and everyone knew how much of a greeting person she was.

— Please follow me, we have to fix this before anything else.

No one dared to do anything besides following her, Jaebeom being forcefully taken by his hand.

  
  


Three hours later found Ana in a hybrid room half-lit, with a bunch of sheets of paper in front of her and a laptop as well. The boys were also there, scattered around the room in different kinds of laying positions. All of them asleep. Later Ana would have marks on her forehead since she had it leaned on the table in front of her, not the best of the positions although it would be enough for survival.

She would have a bad backache when waking up because of her very bad positioning on the floor, yet she chose to sit there instead of on a chair that would keep her from resting. Her phone was still being held inside of one of her hands, unblocked and showing a thread of messages she had exchanged with Mr Park earlier, manager Kim scared her sometimes and manager Jeong was usually harder to reach.

“The boys are too tired, I’ll take them somewhere to sleep.”

“Are you back already? We are operating in a tight schedule, we shouldn’t lose time."

“I’ll find a way, their schedule today is only with me so no worry. I’ll reach you when they wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as this story keeps progressing I find important to point out here that I may add some tags in the future for the content that will come up. There will be some whump and mild to heavy angst in the future, I'm kind of not sure if we should call it mild or heavy angst since there's not really a chart of angst definition (Or is there one and I don't know about it?) Anyways, I hope this story pleases you and gives you as much joy as it has been giving me. Just so you know I'm currently around chapter 25 (Dis I say it was going to be a long one?).  
> See you next week, if you hadn't yet, check me on Tumblr as AkaIjb, lots of love!!


	9. Day fourty-five

It was the end of February when Ana was able to have a full and healthy night of sleep. And she was so damn satisfied with that, it felt like nothing could kill her mood that day. It was bound to be perfect.

At least that was what she thought until her doorbell rang at 6 am. Someone had to be kidding her.

Only after looking through the door, she realised it could be considered a conspiracy since the whole group was behind the door.

— WE KNOW YOU ARE THERE ANA-CHAAAN! — She flinched with the loud yell. Why was Jackson yelling in Japanese now? 

She opened the door only showing her eyes.

— Why are you guys here when it’s the first time in forever that we can have a decent night of sleep? — She didn’t let the door open more than a crack.

— Today is the day of the release, so we came here to watch together. — Mark made sure to look a little affected, but she would not buy that, she knew him enough already.

— How did you guys discover where I even live? I just woke up! — She didn’t let out the fact that Jaebeom knew where she lived.

— We hoped you’d be up, Ana-chan! — Youngjae at least looked apologetically. — We didn’t mean to pry.

— Come in already! — She couldn’t use her harsh tone, she hated when they got to her soft side.

— We brought food. — Jaebeom held paper bags up while the others put theirs down on her kitchen counter. And just how she knew the voice she had to use to make them go with her will, it looked like they knew what to do to her as well.

  
  


_ ~ day twenty-nine ~ _

_ — Did all of you guys have a decent night of sleep? — They had just arrived at their first shooting site. _

_ Trying and letting them have some rest had created a high debt for Ana to pay, meaning a little bit of more work and having to ask for two more assistants to make sure they would make everything in time for their deadline. She would usually find herself repeating in her mind that they would make it. _

_ — Did I do it right? I feel like everyone else’s is well put, but not mine. — Jaebeom was already back with his outfit on. Sadly not properly, it made her smile. _

_ — Come here, let me take a look. — She opened the picture with his design in it to show him, he had put the top part backwards. — How did you manage to do it wrongly? — She giggled trying to make sense of that. — Could you take it off so I can help put it back properly? _

_ But of course, it was just as hard to get out from it, so she had to help. Of all the concepts, the tech one was the most elaborate outfit wise, Mark and Jackson got the prize for that. She was in the middle of it, thinking how much more simplistic she could be but chose not to when his eyes finally resurfaced.  _

_ And suddenly they were facing each other. _

_ — Oh.  _

_ — I’m sorry I didn’t make something simpler for you. — She meant that the leader had the most elaborate outfits. _

_ — I like your designs. — That wasn’t exactly what they were talking about, but the affirmation was gladly accepted by Ana, and she would express that if they weren’t so damn close. _

_ But none backed off. _

  
  


— I did tell them we could come to get you and go to one of our houses. — She was just overthinking about it when her mind suddenly realised that he was always the one by her side, right?

— It’s not a problem unless you guys are going to be uncomfortable here, it’s not a manor exactly. — And that she knew, because her Japanese house had a name, and there were no such things like houses with names, only manors.

— That’s not a problem Ana-san. — Jinyoung was one of the few who still kept the politeness up, the other one was Jaebeom, but he was so freaking dubious all the time she would always be uncertain of what shit meant when with him.

_ —  _ You two wait there until we make things ready here, ok? Don’t start eating the food before we call you. 

They were left alone in the kitchen with the mission of preparing all the food, which meant Jaebeom had to cook since Ana was not going to risk killing all of them with her cooking gifts. All the time the leader spent cooking she used to make some tea and talk lightly to distract themselves.

  
  


_ ~ day thirty-one ~ _

_ — Wait! WAIT! — Ana came from behind the cameras when the boys were already in place to start the dance routine at the third shooting day, she almost tripped on her way to them and had to thank God she had left her fifth coffee cup back there. “Wait” was a word she could master in Koren. The director gave her a deadly glare. — The turtleneck you guys! — Once again it was Jaebeom’s outfit giving her a jump scare. — This shit is all messed up! She complained while trying her best to put as perfectly as it would in a design picture. She had that in her mind. _

_ — You haven’t been resting properly, have you? — He had to bend his neck a little to reach her ear and not get caught by everyone else. _

_ — I’m well-rested when you guys are. It’s some sort of... what is the name again? — Still fixing it. _

_ — If you were you wouldn’t let me come to the front of the camera with this like this. — That made her take her eyes away from the turtleneck and look around, it didn’t seem like anyone else had heard. _

_ She finished before answering. _

_ — I’m sorry. — Also in Korean when she found her way back to her seat behind the cameras, the cup of coffee right back into her hands. — Fighting! — She yelled and smiled at the group, but spared Jaebeom a look that she hoped the others wouldn’t be able to catch. _

  
  


— Jaebeom-ah, JAEBEOM-AH! — And now they were yelling inside Ana’s house. That had to be a nightmare. Not that he would complain about the part in which he was able to be alone with her for a little, which was a miraculous thing these days.

— I can’t believe that. — He complained in Korean making her laugh, could she understand that now?

— I have no idea of what you just said, but you’re making a big mess there.

And of course, he was. But she was still laughing and before he could wrap his mind around this, he realised he was as well. 

It had been weeks since they could spare themselves time to feel good. Besides the fun of making, preparing and being prepared for a comeback it was so very tiring sometimes he wanted to give up. But that right there had to be the answer, Ana, laughing with all her body because of Jaebeom’s clumsiness, it had also been weeks since he had seen her glowing like that.

— Would you please help me? — He said after being able to catch a breath, and she fastly took control of the situation.

— You did everything until now, let me finish it here, sit down a little.

And that he did, was he an obedient boy now?

— Have you rested properly? We do know you were more than overworked in the shooting days.

— Yes, and like… For real now. — She turned to him as if to give confirmation, he had realised she would do that sometimes, reassure them with a serious look. — I was only trying to let you guys focus on your work so everything would go smoothly, there was no need to worry about it.

— Except for the fact that you are a great part of what we are doing here. — He was now upright by her side drying what they had used. — You do get that, right?

She probably didn’t, because she stopped doing the dishes to look at him and just like that they were side by side, shoulders brushing.

  
  


~ day thirty-three ~

_ — Ana-ya? _

_ — Ana-yaa? _

_ They had been looking for her for a while, it was the last shooting day, but no one could find her. _

_ — Dan-ssi says she arrived already, she borrowed his car since she missed her waking time. — Mark came running into his direction. _

_ — And she came here driving? — He was startled, and he had a reason: while talking to Ana in one of their lunchtimes she had told him she didn’t like driving in Korea having learned how to drive in England. — She’s not used to our traffic. _

_ — I don’t know who else to call, she’s not answering either. — Jackson was the one to come after Mark. _

_ And Jaebeom was flipping his phone when something downed in his mind.  _

_ — Ana-ya? — He squinted at both Mark and Jackson. — So Bambam meant that? — The younger ones had told him already, but he had been all too tired and full of things to do to care about that kind of thing, but now they were doing it in front of them? _

_ — Guys! YOU GUYS! — Youngjae came running from the parking lot of the shooting site. — WE FOUND HER! _

_ — What? — The three of them ran to Youngjae and straight to the parking lot. _

_ — Silence, shhhhh! — Yugyeom asked before they could reach a car parked in one of the best parking spots. — I think she’s asleep here. _

_ — Really? — Jackson asked. _

_ — Guys, we need to get ready, it’s almost time to start the hair and make-up. — Jinyoung showed his phone screen to them. _

_ — Right, let’s do like this, we get changed and go straight to hair and make-up, I’ll take care of this since I’m always the last one in, right? _

_ — Jaebeom-ah… _

_ — Let’s just go with it, okay?  _

  
  


— Hey, hey! — It was Jackson this time around, and the jump scare made Ana drop a plate. — Didn’t you hear Youngjae calling?

— Damn it, Jackson! — Jaebeom was already everywhere. — Did it hurt you?

— No, no, it’s okay. — She smiled and brushed him off. — Jackson, go get the broom. 

— Why was Youngjae yelling after all? — Jaebeom called.

— You are the thumbnail this time. — He gave the leader the broom with a large smile on his face. — And it looks great.

  
  
  


_ ~ day thirty-three ~ _

_ — Ana-ya, hmmm? — Jinyoung and Mark were the firsts to finish getting ready, and after sneaking out from everything they got themselves a view they were anticipating for a long time. _

_ — It looks like it did its job, right? — The older one elbowed the other. — I was dying from the inside from the wait, he never acted like this, he was always way faster to make a move, but damn.  _

_ As they kept their talk from the other side of the parking lot Ana and Jaebeom interacted in front of Dan's car. _

_ — Ana-san, we'll begin in no time. — After putting his clothes on and getting to now he would be the last to record that day Jaebeom went running for her. And she wasn't helping his cause. _

_ Carefully not to scare her from her sleep he kept his hushed tone and gentle touches, removing her legs from the inside of the car, and then… _

_ And then she had her head leaned on his shoulder. He stilled. — Ana-san? — His breath hitched, she wasn't waking up, she looked like someone with light sleep, but what was happening there was not that. He looked at the sides just to make sure no one was watching them. — Ana-saaaan… _

_ And before he could try anything else Dream started playing very loudly. She sat up after the jump scare hitting her heat at the car on her way. _

_ — Cacete! — She cursed in Portuguese touching the place she had hit, then she looked at him. — Oh my! — Her eyes opened in full scale when she realised the situation at hand.  _

_ — Ana-san. — He had a blush in his face covering all the visible areas. — It's almost time, I think Yugyeom is about to start his recordings already. — He didn't want to scare her, but she looked frantic after hearing what he'd said.  _

_ — Shit... — In English this time, and just after getting her handbag she realised something else, Jaebeom was holding her legs by the shins. _

_ And she had no idea what that meant. _

_ The possibilities that were flying through her mind made her blush this time around. He took his hands away as fast as humanly possible, and in no time they were walking to the shooting site side by side. _

_ — I didn’t think you were that much of a dense guy, Mark-hyung. — Jinyoung sighed deeply as they walked away from Ana and Jaebeom. — The fact that he’s being  _ this _ careful only shows how important this is to him. — Mark gasped in response. _

_ — How important  _ she _ is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm late simply because I completely forgot yesterday was Tuesday, which made me think "WHY ON EARTH DID I CHOOSE TUESDAY?". Anyway, here's the chapter and I hope you like it, we are getting to the moment when our couple here will find themselves properly [F I N A L L Y]. Just to remember, you can find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb, I'll be posting some things there


	10. Day fourty-seven

— Would you please at least try to have fun today? — She hadn’t even set foot inside the car and Jaebeom was shooting her with a plea already.

— Good night to you too, Jaebeom. — She was on top that night, and no one’s tease could take her down. — It shows how little you know about me and the fact that you think I don’t know how to have proper fun.

— You do know I never said that, right? — He was still to start the car, waiting for her to fasten her seatbelt. Before that she held her phone up, her screen was showing a group chat. — Wait! — He was caught by surprise. — It was their group chat, Got7’s group chat. — How on Earth did you get a hold of this? — She smiled smugly.

— I can’t give away my sources, that wouldn’t be clever. — She put her phone away. — But are you going to confess now that you did say I don’t know how to have fun? 

The print screen she got from the group had a message from him that read “I’ll show Ana how to have fun today”.

— In my defence, I’m sure you don’t know how to have fun the Got7 way.

— “The Got7 way”? — She laughed but didn’t pursue the matter at hand. Being comfortable enough she took the liberty to reach the screen on the car’s panel and put music to play. That was the perfect night to listen to Dream all the way to the celebration party.

_ ~ day forty-five ~ _

_ The room was finally silent and Ana was staring so intently at the screen she thought if it was possible to tear it apart only by doing that. Multiplied by eight since they were all watching it together, a camera aiming at them and recording. “Let’s keep this memory, Ana-chan” One of them had said, she didn’t disagree. “No stopping on the first watch okay?” That’s all she asked for. _

_ And like that, they watched the whole thing in one swing, all the four minutes and forty-four seconds.  _

_ She was amazed. _

_ Besides their yelling, some of them smacking the other affectionately and even more yelling she was able to get a hold of the whole thing and be taken to a conclusion. It was great. _

_ They waited a full minute before starting to sing, and the next thing she knows they were all up singing congratulations to each other. They had so little time to do all that but nailed anyway, that had to be some kind of miracle. She smiled to herself holding the mug of tea with both hands. _

_ When they all stopped Ana realised she was still very tired, all her body still in need of some resting time. _

_ — You guys. — She said in Korean, getting their attention fastly. — We did it! — And every one of them understood her English. They had done it. _

  
  


— Oh God! — Ana got her hand snatched to someone’s mouth with a kiss as soon as she had set her handbag on a table that was occupied by the group. — Do you have a date for the night?

— Bambam, dear, please hold yourself together. — She said affectionately, and Bambam gave a wicked smile to the person behind her. 

She had been catching some weird interactions around her for a while then, but these days it has been louder than before. Or maybe she was just too sleep-deprived to realise anything before. 

— Aren't you a little overdressed for a simple celebration like this, Ana? — Mark came from the other side of the room, a girl by his side who looked familiar, but Ana couldn’t remember where from.

— There’s no such thing as overdressed here, Mark-hyung, she is gorgeous and you’re jealous. — Bambam was by her side again, this time being followed by Jackson, the last one to arrive, the two of them made her feel way less overdressed. Jaebeom, Jinyoung and Yugyeom had left their table to get drinks.

Youngjae sat by her other side, reached for her ear and she heard his voice in a whisper. — That one is Mark’s girlfriend, you must have seen her in one of our variety shootings. — He lay his head on her shoulder after giving the information, she bowed her head acknowledging her, but in no time they were leaving for a booth.

— Is it safe for them to be that together around here? — Having her own experience of dating an idol Ana had always been extra careful to not be seen with Johnny in ways that could be read as anything more than professional. 

— Oh, there's no need to worry, Mark is the best of us when it's about being quiet about his relationships. — And she couldn't say otherwise.

Since starting to work with the group she had seen a couple of them with girls and boys, Jinyoung and Jackson having fixed girlfriends she had met already, but Jaebeom, Mark and Youngjae were always quieter about the relationship matter. And speaking about Jaebeom. 

— I don't think Jinyoung will stay for much longer. — He got to the table with a couple of shots, downing one and leaving the rest for them, Bambam was fast to get his. — Jieun seems to be arriving. 

— But Mark-hyung and now Jinyoung-hyung, that way we won't be able to celebrate properly. — Bambam complained, getting his head patted by Youngjae, who offered him his shot.

— I don't know about you guys, but I was promised a huge amount of fun tonight, we only have schedule tomorrow night since I bribed manager Park, so you owe me that. — They funnily looked at her. — Did you guys think I was here for some kind of supervision? We delivered a full comeback in less than two months, we need to give ourselves some credit!

— Are you finally going to drink with us tonight? — Jackson asked patting Bambam's shoulder that was closer to him.

— Isn't Ella coming tonight? I do feel left alone sometimes for not having a companion. — She leaned back and massaged her temples.

— I can find you a companion in no time, Ana! — Everyone at the table understood that with no need for a translation, the Thai was scolded and slapped by Jackson in no time.

— Bambam, please go get me shots so we can keep the animosities down, hmm? — She made shoving signs with her hands and he got up very fastly. 

— What will you be having? — There was still soju on the table, so it was clear that was not what she was going to have.

— Vodka

— I thought you had said you couldn't drink in a Korean way. — Jaebeom downed a new shot that was brought by Yugyeom, the younger having arrived without Jinyoung. 

— I can't have soju, not my taste, but vodka is fine. — She smiled at them the same way she did when explaining one of her ideas. 

— Ana-ya, that makes no sense! — They would call her like that lately, she didn't care. To be truthful she liked the sound of it. — Vodka is way stronger than soju.

— It's about the taste, Yugyeom-kun, not the strength. —They all laughed about that. It was bound to be a great night.

_ ~ day forty-six ~ _

_ — Of course, everything is going to be okay! — Jaebeom was doing rounds checking all of their microphones and outfits. — Where is your headpiece, Youngjae-ya? — He yelled but cut himself before it could escalate, he had to make sure everything was going to be great. _

_ — Do you think they know the fanchant already? — Yugyeom asked Bambam, lifting the mood a little, the crowd was great that day, they could feel the vibration already. _

_ — Guys, it's almost time, let's gather. — Mark called from the middle of the room. — JB-ah, come on!  _ —  _ He used his “hyung voice”. _

_ — Why isn't Ana here yet? — The leader asked by the door. _

_ — She was here ten minutes ago, hyung, come already! — And it had to mean something that even Youngjae was trying to bring him back to his senses while fixing his headpiece in place. _

_ He went to the open spot at their circle and put his right hand on top of the others’. _

_ — Are you guys ready to make it today? — He had his back to the door Ana should come through, but he was stopped by Yugyeom's change of demeanour, the younger looking at the door that would take them to the stage. _

_ — Didn’t you guys tell me we should yell together? — She was a little breathless, but a large smile graced her lips, she looked like a child being swallowed by her baggy clothes. — I checked the floor with the staff and it’s just like that one. — She nudged Bambam’s side. — What do we do now, yell? _

_ And they would, but she silenced them all. _

  
  


— Ana-chaaaaan! — They had left the bar for a karaoke private room. At her request.

— Don’t be scandalous, Youngjae-ah! — She was happy, not only because of the drinks but also because of their company.

— It’s your phone. — He held it up for her to see. — It’s Mark.  —  And that was strange. They had left the bar a couple of hours before without Mark and Jinyoung, she took a look at the boys she left by the stage area, Jaebeom calling her back with two microphones in hand. She held the phone up with the screen turned to him.  — Ana-chan, you should wear black, this outfit would be even greater in black!

Youngjae was very easy going around her in normal days, but that was new, and it made her laugh.

— You shouldn’t wait for that, I never wear black, so put your hopes down. — She patted his hand, that was still stretched in her direction as she turned her attention back to the phone.

Shouldn’t Mark call one of the guys before calling her? The leader put his hands inside his pockets looking for his phone. Bambam and Yugyeom passed near him singing their lungs filling out in an intricate hug, Jackson was trying to listen to Ella through a phone call. Her phone stopped and then started ringing again.

She answered.

— Don’t tell me you want to come now. — She used her best made up serious voice, eyes still on Jaebeom who seemed to have his phone in hand. He was walking down to her. — Don’t tell me Ms Lee is gone already. — At that, she sounded and felt truly troubled, it was very hard to be in a relationship like that, she knew.

— Go where? Why would my mother be gone? — It wasn’t Mark’s voice she was hearing, and her eyes almost ran away. I mean, It was Mark, just not the Mark she waited for.

— Atta shit, Mark, I didn’t know it was you. — That was Mark Lee, and the fact made Ana feel too aware of her surroundings; she liked to maintain an image before him since he felt like a little brother; Bambam became needy after Yugyeom’s sudden fleeing and Jackson was back to Youngjae’s side, the younger one with his head lay on his lap singing something.

— Did the display of your phone break again? — There was a pause that wasn’t enough for her to prepare a full phrase. — Haechan says there’s another Mark, my name should be saved in a special way right? You wouldn’t mistake me for someone else, right?

She looked at the time to find an excuse, she could complain about the fact that he was still up. Yes, even when he was not much of a kid anymore. — I’m sorry I mistook you, Mark. — Holding her head up she saw the moment in which Jaebeom took his last step. — You do know I’m currently working with another Mark, right? 

And that was an opening for a whole ordeal, the guys at the other side of the call using all their energy up to tease their Mark, at least until Yugyeom got back from his little tour outside with more shots. — Ana-chan, I brought vodka! — That made Bambam very happy and loud again, he was singing Youngjae’s part of Dream.

It had been a while since she last heard the voice that came from Mark’s side since she came back from Japan.

— Are you drinking, Ana? Is Dan with you? — And he was using his good tone this time, not like last time.

— Mark, dear, I’ll have to go, can we talk later? — She smiled apologetically as if he could see her, and as if the one saying those things had been Mark, not Johnny.

— Are you drinking with the Got7 guys? 

It didn’t feel good, but she ended the call before something could go down in the wrong way.

  
  


_ ~ day forty-five ~ _

_ — Did you guys bring it? — They were whispering now, even though everything had been going on very smoothly. _

_ — Just go get ready already, you’ll spoil the surprise if she sees us like this. — Jaebeom was the first one to be back with his outfit on. _

_ — You say it’s not like this, but I’m pretty sure she favoured you with the best outfits. — Mark slapped the leader’s chest with the clothes in his other hand. _

_ — Just shut up and get ready, hm? — The older complied. _

_ — Everyone, good morning! We are delighted to be able to be back with this very special concept, right? — Jaebeom started looking at the camera, the screen flooded with comments already. _

_ — Did you see it already? We worked very hard to give you the best we could this time, we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did.  _

_ And the talk went on and on, Ana still asleep at the other couch, they had to make a whole change of configuration of her furniture to make it possible, but the plan of making a surprise vlive for their fans and her as well somehow was worth it. _

_ They did the whole deal, everything they usually did besides yelling, the fans asking several times why they were being so quiet. _

_ — We are not at one of our houses, so we have to keep silent. — Bambam smiled his way out of the question. _

_ But as time passed and they got themselves more and more comfortable they forgot. The yell came from Jackson, who received a strong smack on his back from Jaebeom. _

_ The sound woke Ana up. _

  
  


— Are you sure you’ll be fine taking them home? — Ana had her head inside Jackson’s car, Jaebeom behind her and the younger three passed out in the back seat.

— Jaebeom-hyung, please convince her so I can take my leave, okay? I have to get up early tomorrow to see Ella.

Ana huffed but complied without Jaebeom’s intervention waving at the car until it turned a corner.

They walked side by side in the cool air of the night after bidding goodbye to Jackson. It wasn’t that late yet, she had convinced them not to celebrate late since they still needed rest for the promotions that were to come.

— I should tell you it’s usually more fun than this. — He had the audacity of scratching the back of his head as if it was a thing to be ashamed of.

— I’m not much of a fun person, I’d say. — She felt lighter than usual, maybe it was the high of the drinks, maybe it was the flowyness of her dress of the night.

— You look great tonight. — And that was the wrong thing to be said, she didn’t appreciate being complimented by her looks, she looked at him with heavy eyelids, drinks and accumulated weariness finally getting to her. Ana was about to complain. — But that’s not what had me looking at you tonight. 

And she found herself almost speechless, almost. — Tonight? — His eyes went wide when he turned to her, who was now balancing herself on the curb. — Jaebeom dear, do you really think I’m  _ that  _ dense? — She let herself back to the sidewalk, but he was no longer by her side, stuck back by sheer force of disbelief. — Oh, you really did.

— When, who, how? — He was still holding his frown, not moving an inch. Ana turned to him completely, now both facing each other.

— It was a long time ago, but I thought it was my sleepy mind. No one told me, so please spare the guys. — She hummed Dream’s rhythm before continuing, his eyes were completely glued on her. — And I guess the killer moments were me waking up to you at the parking lot and you staying late at the release date. The rest I really attributed to things of my mind. — Her head was then tilted to the side, her handbag being tilted, it had been a while since she had done something like that. It made her restless. — Did I misunderstand you?

— Oh, you didn’t really, it feels like I am the late one here. — Again he reached for the back of his neck, she let out a laugh.

— So how do you want to proceed about this? — She took a bunch of steps until she was in front of him, just the two of them at the emptiness of the night streets. He gasped before forming his phrase and had to reach his hand to her when she almost fell after tripping. Ana could almost see the words come together in his brain.

— Would you like to date me? — And it wasn’t on purpose, but she was unable to hold her laugh inside, it came out as a high pitched one. She turned away from him to hide her own blush.

— I guess it’s about time you asked. — She was walking away but the sound of a smile behind her words was easy to identify, so soon enough he was walking by her side.

And after looking around to make sure no one was around to see, he slid her hand inside of his, their sides brushing together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, we did it, we finally came to it.  
> They. Are. Together.  
> From here on I'll try my best to balance the angst and fluff, but can't really promise anything since fluff doesn't come to me as easily as angst. So feel free to comment, find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb and we'll be back next week with more.


	11. Day fifty

— Don't you think they will suspect something? — Jaebeom was waiting for her to fasten her seatbelt so he could start the car, they were going to manager Jeong’s birthday party. Another one of their managers. 

Jaebeom was fidgety.

Instead of answering him, she gave him a kiss at the corner of his mouth. He felt his face flare-up. In his defence, it was only their third day together and she had changed a lot when by his side alone. When they were in other people's presence her actions were barely visible. 

— Won't you start the car? — She asked looking at him intently. Jaebeom still had his eyes on the garage gate.

— Won't you answer my question? — He eased the tension of his shoulders by rolling them and closed his eyes, her stare penetrating through his skin. — You’ll carve a whole in me if you keep up with this stare.

— So we kept ourselves hidden for three days, do you want to make a bet? — She set him free from her stare. 

— Let’s just go, okay? — Ana was scrolling for a song, but Jaebeom was certain of where she would land. But then “I like you” started playing. He stole a glance at her in disbelief. — Did you get tired of Dream already?

— Jaebeom-ah, we did spend all night yesterday singing all possible versions of that song, hmm?

— I thought you loved it. — He pouted, making her blush. After deciding to start something between the two of them she had been slowly learning the fact that she would be affected by a lot of his traits, and because he was such a tease, he would never let her go through that at ease.

— I’m doing research for the next comeback, I want to learn about everything you’ve done already. — She sighed deeply. 

— But we’re like, in the middle of promotions, aren’t you going to be with us throughout it? — His eyes were still on the road, but his tone shifted slightly.

— The reality is that I usually get to know everything about the group before creating with them, but Dream… God, Dream had me  _ so  _ shook I didn’t have the energy to get to know you since I was so worked up with the whole concept.

— Well, I guess it paid off since we got a great comeback, right? — She made a complying sound at the rhythm of the song and they filled the rest of the way with comfortable humming sounds. And that was exactly what both of them needed.

  
  


— Jaebeom-hyung! — Bambam ran to his leader, Jaebeom looked around trying to find manager Jeong. — Didn’t you bring Ana-ya? I was sure you were going to come together.

— Oh! 

— Jaebeom-ah, don’t tell me you’re backing off! I’m sure Ana-ya is dense, but with time she will understand you. — Mark patted his shoulder as if for consolation.

— Will she? — Jackson approached them from the middle of the party, Ella following him. — I hear Ana-ya is actually an object of desire in our midst.

— What? — Jaebeom didn’t hold himself back.

— So you’re still waiting for some sort of sign to strike you magically? — Ella joined the teasing.

— You guys, let’s respect our leader’s way of doing it, hmm? — Mark came for his defence. — Jinyoung-ah says that he’s taking his time because he really likes her, so our leader Lim is being careful here. — He tapped the younger’s chest lightly.

— Just take care of your business, you guys! — Jaebeom downed a drink that passed by on a waiter’s tray.

— Look who I just found! — Youngjae’s voice came from behind him, so he had to turn around to see who he had found. And it was Ana.

She was smiling to everyone, but a part of him knew she was especially having her face graced by that smile because of his blush.

— Good night you guys. — She waved without much contact, Ella looked at her with weirded out eyes.

— Are you the English one now? — She asked with the heaviest of accents. 

— Don’t I always try my best to hold myself back with skinship? — She lingered around Jaebeom, and he prayed no one could see as the temperature of his neck rose.

— We really don’t care if you are the one to have skinship with, Ana dear. — Bambam had seen her earlier and tried his hardest to take a peek at Mr Jeong’s birthday gift. Everyone from the group knew he was her favourite manager.

— Who are you guys wearing today? It’s pretty much one in million that you’ll be free from me. — She teased with the truth, they were bound to wear only her designed clothes throughout the year in special outings.

As each one of them gave her answers; that had her from smiling to snickering; Jackson strode through their circle.

— What is this that I’m seeing, though? — He had a wicked smile on his lips and a finger touching Jaebeom’s shirt, he had been the only one not to answer, and she knew exactly why. He was wearing her brand, she had prepared it especially for the day. — Is Jaebeom-hyung wearing Ana? — She felt the temperature of her whole body turn up.

  
  


_ ~ day forty-eight ~ _

_ — I’ll be taking Ana, you guys can go. — It had been only half a day of work, but they were very tired, the success of the comeback was great, but was taking every ounce of strength from them with promotions.  _

_ — Where is she though? — Mark was by Jackson’s side poking him away from sleep, Jinyoung was gone with more recording schedules and Youngjae with him for his OST. They were at full swing.  _

_ — I saw her talking to manager Park, don’t you guys feel like she’ll get their job away from them anytime soon? She’s always around. — Bambam was typing on his phone, he had two days to get the party for manager Jeong done, he had implored his way into organising everything. _

_ — I think this is how she works, Eunwoo-ssi told me once. — Yugyeom was interrupted by a yawn. — From what I know she always gets close with the idols she works with. _

_ — That’s what I heard from Jooheoney as well. — They weren’t even sure Jackson was fully awake, but he contributed with the talk. _

_ They waited a couple more minutes in silence, the only one that seemed to be awake for real was Bambam and he was on just because of the birthday party organisation shenanigans. _

_ — Are you okay with waiting by yourself? I’d like to take them home ASAP. — Mark asked Jaebeom, Jackson was now more of a burden he was making sure wouldn’t fall than a person he was trying to keep awake. _

_ — Oh, hyung, I’m asking for a driver, I have to check the place for the party, if this goes wrong my career will end before starting. — Bambam’s eyes barely left the screen. _

_ — Didn’t you come with your car today? Are you going to leave it here? — Jaebeom kept looking intently at the door Ana was supposed to come from. _

_ — I did, but I’m so sleepy it wouldn’t be safe for me to drive. — At that he got his head patted brutally by Jaebeom. _

_ — So responsible of you!  _

_ — What are you guys still doing here? — She was walking fast and clearly had more energy than all of them together. — We have schedule tomorrow morning. _

_ — I’m leaving with Jackson and Gyeom, Bambam will call a car and Jaebeom will take you home. _

_ And she looked shocked at that. Jaebeom thought she was being a great actress, but then she approached them with a worried look on her face, he understood she was saying that for real. _

_ — I wasn’t planning to leave now. — One second to look at her phone, then another to look back at Jaebeom. — Do you want to meet in the car? I have to check a couple of things with Mr Kim, and then I can take some things home with me. _

_ — Good, great. — Mark was the one to answer. — Let’s go, everyone! — He had to shake Yugyeom and Jackson awake so they could walk to the parking lot. _

  
  


— So you got away from that safely, hmm? — Ana and Ella had left the guys with the excuse of having some “girl time”, Ana was more interested in getting a place to sit, the Brazilian stylist was never a big fan of being up for too long — Will you say you and Jaebeom are not having a thing? — Ana was gulping a shot of vodka and almost suffocated with the comment, her idea was to exchange the heat of her body from despair to alcoholic bliss.

— Ella, dear, why would you think that?

The other girl laughed before answering. — You don’t have to worry about that, I think Jaebeom wants to keep you to him for a little before telling everyone. — She sighed with a smile behind it. — Jackson had the worst time in the world after presenting me to the guys, he never heard the end of it.

Ella looked intently at the younger girl, but she wouldn’t let anything out.

— It’s also okay to keep things as a secret. — She made an ugly face after downing a shot of tequila. — I still struggle to make sure Jackson won’t yell about us to the whole world, sometimes it feels like I’m the one who wants to stay hidden but it’s like, they are people of entertainment, their fans are pretty much everything and we know that in the kpop realm we girlfriends are not very well accepted.

— Ella… — Ana didn’t deny, hadn’t done it earlier either, but she wouldn’t confirm anything. It had always been a burden to cope with her aversion for lies and to keep having secret relationships.

— I’m not asking for you to say anything, I guess I’m just blurting shit out. — As she pressed her eyes with her fingers gently Ana realised that that kind of shit troubled all of their species. The  _ Idol’s girlfriend  _ species.

— Do you know that I happened to date an idol before? — She only had a shot of vodka in her hands and it wasn’t enough to hide her face from Ella, but the moment felt adequate to say such things. She sighed before going on. — He’s not Korean though, so I keep thinking that it made things different, I was working my ass off with them and it just happened. — Completely different from Jaebeom, she realised, Jaebeom felt more programmed, like she had more control of things until their mutual decision.  _ —  _ One day we were just going out with everyone, then we are looking for places that are not very public nor too hidden in case someone caught us.

Ella was looking at her almost in awe, the businesswoman she was, having a relationship with more than an idol must have been out of her mind.

— Don’t be shy because of my reaction! Keep going.

Ana laughed before saying anything else.

— Let’s make a date to talk about it. — She pointed to someone who was coming from behind her. — I think you’re about to be summoned.

  
  


_ ~ day forty-eight ~ _

_ — You shouldn’t have waited so long for me. — He was coming out from the car to help her with the whole lot of things she was taking home. _

_ — And how were you planning to take all these things home? — He said that thinking she would be at a loss of words. _

_ — You seem to forget the fact that Seoul has a great cab service. — He didn’t even get her eyes to him. _

_ — I’m too tired to even try to bring an argument up here. _

_ And they enjoyed some silence after that. The night was at its darkest and the street lamps were the only source of light against the darkness, she was typing on her phone, it was very late, but she still had things to work on for the studio until late hours. _

_ — Damn! — She finally looked up when losing signal for a second, she realised then they were coming to a stop. — What’s happening? _

_ — I’m going to buy something for us to eat before heading home. I didn’t have a meal in some time.  _

_ She breathed in and out, she should’ve realised earlier that it wasn’t just about making sure they had good nights of sleep; which hadn’t been possible lately with their packed schedule; she had to look intently to their health as well.  _

_ He put on a disposable mask matching with his cap before getting out. _

_ His arms were full of things when he came back from the convenience store. But she shouldn’t get out to help him out. _

_ — I’m sorry I didn’t realise you guys didn’t have time to even eat. — The hand that dishevelled her hair was not because of her tiredness, it was for frustration. _

_ — I brought some things for you as well, I didn’t know exactly what you would prefer, so there are some things for you to choose. _

_ And that made her realise something else, she had forgotten that  _ she _ hadn’t eaten that day either. _

_ — Thank you. _

  
  


By the end of the night, most of the guys were out of their mind because of so much liquor they had consumed already, Ana knowing how to deal with the quantity of the alcohol she consumed was very attentive of her surroundings. Happily, Jaebeom was aware as well and realising that no one was looking at them he found a way to slide her hand inside his. It made her look at him, her lids only half-open asking for lenses or glasses as she sipped the cup of tea she had in her hands, Jaebeom had gotten a hold of tea in that kind of place. She didn’t know how but was deeply thankful.

— Do you want to leave already? — His voice came very near her ear, his breath heating the sensitive skin of her neck.

— I’m okay. — She smiled despite her inner resistance. From afar she locked eyes with Ella, a shared secret between the two of them. — And you need to sober up if you intend to take me home someway beside on foot.

— One hundred per cent sure I’m taking you home on foot today. — She snickered feigning disdain. — We gained too much last time for me to lose the opportunity.

— There must be reporters outside. — She was giving motives away not to do it, but it was more to convince herself than Jaebeom. Mr Jeon was the most famous among their managers and Bambam hadn’t tried to hide the party.

— Bambam was bragging about some kind of back door earlier. — He put some distance between them to make sure no one would suspect, but their booth was very reserved, the only one near them being a passed out Yugyeom.

— Jaebeom-ah. — She suddenly seated up and acted in a completely different way.

— Chill out, Ana-chan. — Jinyoung was there to get Jieun’s handbag. He had a sneaky smile gracing his lips. — Jaebeom-hyung knows he can’t hide anything from me. — He looked down at the leader, completely still by her side. — Right, hyung?


	12. Day sixty-one

Ana was laid in a fetal position in one of the guys’ rehearsal rooms, she was waiting for Mark to come back with his new outfit on so she could analyze it before his fan meeting in a place she couldn't remember where it would be. 

— I'm pretty sure you're not having quality resting time, I knew it was not going to be good for you to work away from us.

She had wireless headphones in her ears and had been talking to Rika since Mark left, her Japanese coworker/friend had a way with timing. Sometimes it was for Ana's benefit, sometimes not so much.

— I'm just trying my best to make sure their next comeback will be better than the last one. — Her sigh was deep and wretched.

— Please tell me you aren't still hung up in that "it's too western" comment? — And Rika received silence at that. Because even though Ana didn't want to confess that, those comments had really got under her skin. — I know you have all the year booked, and when you aren't working with them you are doing some studio thing, but please, Ana, do take care of yourself. 

She huffed at that, eyes closed for a moment. Being still was never Ana's strength, she always thought work was her way of recharging, but lately, she wouldn't be able to reaffirm that. 

Her mind went blank with the feel of lips touching her own. 

But she was waiting for Mark.

— Cacete! — She yelled her lungs strength away and was seated in the next second, still trying to understand what on earth was happening. The bonus was Rika's yell at the other side of the call and the person who was trying to hold her down.

— What's wrong? — She slowly realised it wasn’t Mark, of course it wasn’t because Mark wouldn’t do something like that out of the blue, Mark was everything but  _ that _ crazy. — Did I scare you out of your sleep? 

She was still startled, hands trying to move his touch away from hers and ears ringing with Rika's desperate questioning, her mind and body trying to place her at the moment in which she was very relaxed even with Rika’s pushing. 

— Cacete! — She was breathless this time, eyes finally open. — It's you... — A dishevelled Jaebeom looking at her.

— NANA-CHAN, WHAT'S HAPPENING?

She had to take the headphone from her right ear because of Rika's yelling.

— It's nothing, I just got startled. — She sat cross-legged facing him, heart slowly slowing its pace.

— Weren't you alone just now? Who's there? — Ana could perfectly picture Rika pacing around, it was a shared habit.

— Jaebeom just arrived here now, please chill, Rika-chan. — His eyes were still wide, not understanding the reason for her desperate reaction, she reached for his hands and after holding it she made massaging movements. Lately, she had been realising different ways she could calm him down.

— Just make sure to rest before our meeting in China, ok? Don't make me fly to Korea. — Ana was listening intently to her, but eyes doing a follow-up on Jaebeom's startled demeanour.

— Don't fool me, Rika-chan, we all know you hate Korea. — And the older girl did hate it. — Let's talk tomorrow after the landing, hm?

  
  


_ ~ day fifty-seven ~  _

_ — I think we need some agreements surrounding our relationship. _

_ They were chilling at daybreak after days full of activities, it had been hectic lately, but they hardly ever complained. Spending time at her house became a thing very fast for them. "I'm territorial," she said without worry. "We are in Korea already, let me have this at least." And they barely talked about that after. Sometimes when he took her home she would ask if he wanted to come up with, sometimes he would ask if she wanted him to. _

_ Gladly it wasn't suffocating. _

_ Of all the boys Jaebeom and Jinyoung had so many activities Ana and Jaebeom wouldn't see each other for a week in the upcoming future. Knowing that, Jaebeom once showed up at her door in the middle of the day saying “I think I'm better at acting than they thought.” Meaning: he found free time since the commercial was ended faster than the staff had anticipated.  _

_ And that phrase got them together for the rest of the day and brought Ana’s request up almost as the night turned into morning. _

_ — I’m in. — He said absently, she couldn’t tell if he was fully awake or not. _

_ — Shouldn’t you think about what I’m about to say? _

_ She had one hand on his head playing with his long hair and the other drawing on her iPad, later he would ask her if she never stopped working. His eyes were barely open when he held his head up to look at her, they were curved in crescent shapes. She felt her neck heat up and unintentionally dropped the pen. _

_ — I think I’ll just agree with it all. — He  _ had _ to be too sleepy to contribute, otherwise, she would find a cause to be mad at him. _

_ — But I need you to contribute, don’t tell me I’m in this alone.  _

_ And he made a huge point to surprise her. In the next beat of their background music, he was up after a jump, head hanging low to set his eyes onto her. It made her laugh and get up, hand reaching for his hair again, she didn’t know if the patting was for her or him. _

_ — I take that back, okay? Just go back to sleep. _

_ — I wasn’t asleep though. — But he could barely open his eyes either. She chose not to point that out. _

_ — How would you contribute in that state, though? — She had to sit beside him then, leaving the designing to sometime later. _

_ — I’d like to let the guys know. — The requirement made her eyes pop, and she could see that he was looking at her through the veil of sleep. _

_ — But one of my requests is to have us as a secret. — His locks would be tangled later from her fidgeting. _

_ — You couldn’t possibly be ashamed, so what would the reason be? — And he was  _ so _ secure about himself she had to fight the urge of kissing him, but he beat her to it. — I hear you are experienced in relationships with idols already. _

_ And that made her giggle after the kiss. She was the one with eyes closed now. _

_ — Remind me of not telling shit to you anymore, please. — She was interrupted by a longer kiss. — Let’s not tell them, but let’s answer when they ask. _

_ — I can deal with that. _

_ — Let’s visit each other. — And it was his turn to pop the eyes. _

_ — Do you want my house’s password? — He was back to the carpeted floor. _

_ — No need, just like today. — She pinched his nose. It was her way of saying she liked the visit and was open for more. They would work with unsaid words very usually, at least in the short and hectic days they shared as a couple. _

_ — Are you still against coming to my place? — She made a face at that, he looked away, she felt the offer come before his words reached her ears. _

_ — I’d like to give you my password. — And then in a jump, he was awake and talking. — What if we were days away from each other and you were the one to be back earlier from a schedule? _

_ — What about my territorialism? — She said, trying to be very serious, but his smile reached her. _

_ — I’ll give you the password and address, you choose what to do with it. _

_ — I want us to work out together. — Her turn to suddenly stand up, iPad in hands, there was no way she would be able to work with him and that discussion. _

_ — There’s a gym in my apartment complex. — He said as if it was the best idea.  _

_ — There’s a gym in the company, Jaebeom. _

_ — So we are telling the guys? — A smug smile changing his sleepy demeanour. _

_ — No telling, only confirming if asked.  _

  
  


— Mark is about to come, I wasn’t waiting for you. 

As soon as Ana’s call with Rika ended she took the other headphone away and held his previously free hand. 

— I have fixed Jinyoung at the door, he’ll ring me if someone comes.

— What have you been up to lately?

— Just around. — They hadn’t seen each other since the agreement day, funny enough he had been the one who didn’t want to ask for anything but was the one to make most of the requests.

Her next movement surprised him a little, she was hardly-ever considered a very loving one through their sparse calls. But then it was possible that she didn’t like working on long-distance terms, that hadn’t come to his thoughts just yet. She scooched closer to him until they were close enough she could rest her chin on his shoulder. She had never done the kind of thing, patting yes, but not really hugging and being  _ that _ close.

— Is this okay? — She was going to retreat.

— Yes, yes, just stay. — He patted her head back to its original placement. — What have  _ you _ been up to lately?

— Nothing much. — She was not giving it all, papers and bags scattered around her. — Wasn’t ready to miss you though.

And again she took him by surprise.

When they first started things he was pretty sure their thing was one-sided, Ana only complying so she wouldn’t get more of his advancing. But then they were spending time together at her house after their schedule, she was getting him food and checking the quality of his sleep, he would have the guys looking at him in a funnily because  _ she _ was being obvious and she was asking him for time together at the gym. 

But now she was missing him. He couldn’t master words at the moment.

She was more giving than taking. He first saw that in the way she interacted with the group as a whole, and then they were dating, and she was taking care of pretty much everything. When they left together to work she would do a check-list of the things he should bring with him for the day, she would also check on the others and give/receive multiple calls to Japan daily. Wasn’t Jaebeom able to catch little details of the traits she had, he would never hear a complaint from her; almost no one heard one of these.

— Guess that’s too much. — She was sleepy and he could tell, she usually got more comfortable and the tongue way looser.

— No, not too much. — She moved under his touch. — Let me enjoy you for a little since you’ll be gone tomorrow. — She calmed at that, bringing a smile to his face. Little did she know.

— You still owe me a gym session, will you have time tomorrow before my flight?

— Ana-ya, don’t you dare to give me false hope. — And he felt the retort come as she took a deep breath in.

— Your argument is lacking facts, so weak I could attack it as a lie if it was originally an affirmation, lucky you. — Her breath was hot making him remember the days were going to start getting hotter.

— I’ll let this one slide, okay? But I’ll be gathering strong material for the upcoming arguments we have, don’t feel too close to the winning side.

— Well, it’s too late since I— 

— YOU GUYS! — When Mark’s voice came from the door Jaebeom was already planning Jinyoung’s death, Ana’s head hidden at the crook of his neck. He had to turn to see the older’s face. — How long?

— Mark, dear come here so we can tell you some things. — She had her head leaned onto her boyfriend’s shoulder, a laugh bubbling from her voice. She had agreed not to hide, so the American idol was going to be the second one to discover, after Jinyoung only. — It’s time to know where babies come from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again, yes, I'm sorry about that. It's bad that I have this kind of selective block in which I feel I can't touch anything current of this story, only future things. Can't explain why.  
> Anyway, don't give up just yet, there're a lot of chapters written already just on the line to be edited. As always you can find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb, I was planning to start putting the extra scenes there, but the block thing is kind of killing the mood. Hope you like it, see you next week.


	13. Day sixty-four

— You are going with the  _ I didn’t know  _ thing? How could you? — Dan was more freaked out than Ana, and in her defence, Jaebeom didn't look weary at all about the fact that she didn't remember it. 

— Tell him it's not a big deal, Rika-chan. — Ana pointed out the phone in Rika’s direction.

— She never remembered  _ one  _ special date when with Johnny, I wasn’t expecting a lot now either.

— The disrespect, Rika-chan. — Ana took the cellphone away from her friend, she was indeed waiting for her to come up with a good defence, not more attacks. She served the Japanese with a snicker.

— Ana’s lack of relationships skills aside, are  _ you  _ letting your little bird fly on her own this time? — Dan had to be out of his mind to say such a thing to Rika. As they got nearer the airport Ana could see Rika getting fidgety. It was the first time she was flying to Thailand and it would be on her own.

After Rika’s huff, Ana said her goodbye and ended their call.

— Make sure you call me when you land, okay? — She was typing on her phone in a way that made Ana think of Do Mijin, the head of JYPE’s styling department. — I’m afraid you’ll be lost or something. — She took a breath that sounded like a gasp. — What if I go with you, take you to the hotel until you meet the guys and then I go back to Japan?

She looked deeply at her friend, she would never be able to pay for being able to work with such caring people. God knew she needed that. She held the Japanese girl’s hand tight before leaning into her, she would never confess, but she had been extra clingy these days.

— Thank you so much! But you have to go back to the mother studio. — She decided to call their original placement like that to make sure they gave the proper value to the place where they began.

— We’ll need a Chinese lawyer. — Rika changed phones and started doing something Ana couldn’t understand. — I know we’ll need to revise this contract. — Her eyebrows were knitted together and Ana had to use her fingers to calm her forehead down. 

She did that without lifting her head to look.

— Make sure you sleep well, okay? You gave your everything this weekend.

Rika held Ana’s hand while leaving all the phones behind, Ana had sent Jaebeom a text letting him know she was to go to Thailand to meet them. When all their phones were left behind they held her hands together and enjoyed each other’s warmth until they got to the airport. At some point in their trip, both of the girls slept.

  
  


_ ~ day sixty-two ~ _

_ Ana was rushing her way into JYPE that morning. She was late, and it had to be an actual negative miracle. _

_ — Imagine my surprise when I pass through the doors of the gym and you are nowhere to be seen! — Of course, he didn’t lose the chance of teasing her. _

_ — I went to bed late yesterday and I’m pretty sure my phone didn’t even ring this morning. — He heard perfectly when she let her things fall to the floor, it was a current thing in the JYPE hallways. _

_ — Your things just fell, right? Should I go help you out? _

_ — No need, no need! — She answered rushedly. — We have to make sure we won’t get caught by anyone. — She left out the fact that Mark and Jinyoung already knew, and the older was dying to tell the others. _

  
  


_ When she arrived at the gym he was seated on a yoga mat, legs crossed as if in a very meditative manner. She smiled and went to him as silently as possible, it was Saturday and the gym was empty, much to her happiness. She took off her heels and wiggled her toes free from them, it felt like she was going to be successful in surprising him, but when she was about to pat his head he tilted it in her direction and she received the compliment of having his crescent-shaped eyes pointed to her. _

_ His smile expressed through all his body. _

_ — All of that just for an airport thing? Was the media contacted? — And there was his teasing, she kneeled in front of him and reached for a touch of her lips on his eyelids. He knew how much she hated unprogrammed shit. _

_ — I’ll go get changed and then we can start, okay? — She was already leaving when he pulled her back to him. _

_ — Can’t I pay you back? — They were so near pressed against one another there wasn’t much to be done between them, but he found a way to kiss her temples. It made her bags fall again. — Ana-yaaa! — He whined after eyeing the bags she had brought. — I’m not giving you chances to back off now.  _

_ He freed her from his touch and went to the male locker room. She waited not understanding what everything meant until he was back with a t-shirt and shorts. He wanted her to use it since she had forgotten hers. _

_ — Don’t pry. — Her turn to tease. He was blushing when she took the clothes from him. _

_ Ana was feeling all sorts of weirdness when leaving the female locker room only to discover Jaebeom wasn’t there anymore. A look at her phone screen and she read a message from him saying he was out to get them things to eat after their routine. She went to the place he was when she arrived. _

_ Not too much time after someone came bursting through the door. _

_ — Are you that eager to train today? — And that was the second mistake of that kind in two days. Maybe they were up to break a record or something. _

_ — Ana-ya! I didn’t know you’d be around today. — Youngjae was someone she always liked meeting, no need for schedule or anything, he seemed to brighten every place he set foot in. _

_ — Youngjae-kun, hi! — If he happened to ask she wouldn’t know how to respond, the reason for her being there at the gym when she would have to catch a plane to China in hours.  _

_ And wearing Jaebeom’s clothing. _

_ — You look different from what I anticipated in training clothes. — His smile was so bright, energy so contagious she almost felt like telling him everything. Even in front of the possibility of him not even asking. — I’m happy I got to… — She was standing away from the yoga mat now, heading towards him when something caught his eye. — Why are you wearing Jaebeom-hyung’s clothes? _

_ She stilled in place. Was it the smell? Did Jaebeom give her marked clothes somehow? She didn’t have to ask herself for too long since the group leader came through the door with their breakfast in hands. She had a lively moment to consider running away as if nothing had happened. _

_ Jaebeom came from behind Youngjae before she could do so. _

_ — When were you planning to tell, hyung? — He helped the older one with the bags and went on away from her. Jaebeom himself was very calm. _

_ — Wha- Aren’t you startled by that, Youngjae-kun? — She strode after them. _

_ — I think everyone knows already, we were just waiting for you guys to feel comfortable and tell us. _

  
  


— No, I didn’t meet them yet, Rika-chan. — It was their second call since Ana’s arrival in Thailand.

Rika had booked her a driver beforehand this time around, and an English speaking one of all of them. She missed speaking the language, being around Rika was a whole Japanese thing and she could get tired of that sometimes.

— Did you just arrive? Was the traffic that bad? Are you sure you are in the right hotel? — She was already in Japan and should be looking for a Chinese lawyer instead of babysitting her boss.

— I’m not supposed to head to the hotel just yet, Rika-chan! I have to meet them and plan the rest of the stage before I can start on the next comeback.

She used her final tone, the one not even Rika would dare going against. She kept that one close and only used when she was too tired to go for a full-ride of argument, and Rika knew that very well. 

— Oh, Ana-san is here! — Lee Minsun, one of her assistant stylists, was running towards her, Rika was the one to end their call. The girl, who was a little older than Ana, bowed her head as she came to a stop. — Has any of the boys contacted you?

That could sound weird to some people, but their little staff already knew Ana talked to the boys directly, Minsun wasn’t different.

— I actually don’t know. — Ana fished for another phone to show her. — My phone died as soon as I landed here, all I was able to see was a bunch of messages in Korean from a weird number.

— Oh, it must be some kind of service offer. — The smiling girl said brushing Ana’s worries away. — They are in a meeting with their manager now, so you should head to your hotel first.

That had to be a joke. At least Ana wanted it to be. 

— Can’t I wait for them here? — It felt weird to have to ask someone permission to be somewhere, Ana  _ did _ like and was used to being the boss.

— It would be better if you worked from there for now, we weren’t able to fix a place for you yet. I’m so sorry. — She bowed her body this time.

The reality was that Ana needed to start working on their thing as soon as possible because her mind was already burning ideas for their upcoming things and she hated to think that good ideas were dying from inside of her mind. She bowed her way out with her suitcase.

Ana would not confess, but she thought for a little that maybe Rika was right and she couldn’t find her way properly in a new country. When in Korea Dan had been with her the first day, so it was better. She wished she could have him there then.

Before heading out to find herself a cab she took a selfie and sent it to Dan to show she was doing just fine in Thailand. She only realised the commotion that was inside when she breathed the air our. Everyone was running and yelling.

Or maybe she was too tired to comprehend things.

  
  


When  _ his _ phone rang after the leave of all of their managers from the room Jaebeom covered his eyes and got up straight to the large window of the room. He could feel everyone’s movement from behind the door that separated them from the commotion.

Youngjae was the only one besides him who was up. Mark was fidgeting with his hands as if missing the feeling of his phone there, Jinyoung would pat his shoulder sometimes failing to calm him down; Yugyeom was pressed against Jackson wanting some kind of reassurance the older one couldn’t give; Bambam, ironically the calmest of them all, was sprawled on his couch holding his phone without looking at it.

“Let us try and analyse the situation before you guys go to the comments, okay?” Was the last of Mr Jeong’s request of the night, the calmest among the managers. No one asked the Thai to leave his phone on the table with the other members’.

He was too distracted and had once again lost track of time when Bambam came to him from behind.

— Have you talked to Ana already? — And it felt like the younger one had just read his thoughts. — She should’ve landed hours ago, right?

And he looked sincerely worried at that. Jaebeom was once again sure he couldn’t have asked for better teammates. 

— Let’s just wait for manager-nim, okay? I’ll give her a call after that.

  
  


_ ~ earlier that day ~ _

_ — Is Ana on her way already? — Youngjae pressed his chin on Jaebeom’s shoulder. _

_ — She just texted me about it. — He had the time of his day hiding his lingering smile. — It looks like she and Rika-ssi are heading to the airport. _

_ — Will we finally meet Rika this time? — Jinyoung was going around checking their room for something to show Jieun through a picture. _

_ — Not yet, she’s going back to Japan to discuss the technicalities of their Chinese franchise. — All of them had taken time from their current doings to listen to Jaebeom. _

_ — When will we roast hyung for not letting us know about them earlier? — Yugyeom was so on, not even caring how Jaebeom would react. _

_ — I’m glad he was careful while doing it. — Bambam got everyone’s eyes to himself. — What? Nothing against you guys’ girlfriend, right? But Ana had become close to us as well, at least I feel we are all friends besides their relationship. _

_ Jackson opened his mouth to disagree peacefully. _

_ — Jackson, I too have to confess. — Mark patted the Chinese. — It’s been three days and we already miss her? _

_ They all laughed and agreed, Ana had indeed become special to all of them. They were about to keep their talk going when Mr Kim passed through the door in a hurry, people were running around behind their door. _

_ — Bam-ah, is it real? — All their managers entered in a hurry, Mr Park asking. _

_ They were in Thailand and suddenly the Thai was the centre of their attention. Their manager didn’t wait for his answer, holding a cellphone towards him. _

_ — You got yourself a dating scandal. — Mr Jeong closed and opened his eyes slowly, everyone trying to digest the information. — Is it real? _

  
  


Deciding to put glasses and a mask on was Ana's best decision when getting out of the cab and into the hotel. The place packed with fans who knew where their idols were to stay. Gladly no one noticed her. 

She was excited and still exploding ideas when she arrived at her room. She never thought of calling anyone to tell she had arrived. The first things she had done when arriving was getting her supplies so she could pull her ideas out from her head and avoid losing them. 

Ana had been there for three hours when she answered the first phone call, which was lucky enough to reach her when in a break.

— Hi mom, how are you? — She didn't know what time it was in Thailand, let alone in Brazil. It was supposed to be a break to drink water, she still had ideas to save from herself.

— Nana, dear, what took you so long? 

Her mother's tone made Ana put down the cup, she sounded worried.

— I was working, got distracted and missed some calls, did something happen there? — It had been a couple of months since she last visited her parents.

— Isn't this guy Bambam a member of the group you are working with? 

And that was something she couldn't have anticipated because even though her parents were great with eastern languages, culture and pretty much everything, they barely knew a thing about kpop.

— Yes, what about him? — As curiosity filled Ana's insides she took a look at the calls she had missed, it was from the studio, Dan, Naoki and Rika. All of that without an internet connection.

— The internet is flooded with news about him, are you not with them now? — He mother maintained the worried tone. — Is everything okay?

Ana found herself in a loss of words, she couldn't answer because she didn't know. Dan did tell her she would still find herself in trouble for not being connected enough.

— I'm not sure, I forgot to charge my phone when I arrived. — And her mother knew that that meant a great deal since Ana always had her phones charged.

— Charge it and see if everything is fine… and don't overwork too much okay? — She said that knowing her daughter always overworked.

Ana said her goodbyes, sent love to her father and dialled Rika right away, the dead phone in hands running for a power plug.

— GOD FORBID, ANA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? — Rika yelled after answering her call.

— Working. — She was going to say she was saving ideas, but it fell flat at the time. — What on earth is going on?

— Did you turn off your cell? You never do that! — She heard whispers of Rika assuring Naoki she was fine.

— It died and this one was silenced, I lost myself while putting ideas out.

She heard a breath and knew in her heart that nothing that was going to be said would be good. 

— Bambam is involved in a dating scandal. 

It was great that she had been standing in front of her bed at the said moment since she fell on it. 

— Come again. — She asked even though she had understood very well, she knew for a fact that Bambam wasn't currently dating anyone, the Thai always bragged about his dates until one of the older ones physically shut him up. 

— Jaebeom called me a couple of hours ago asking about you since they couldn't reach you either. — She would say something if there wasn't a lump blocking her throat. — I think you guys should lay low for a while, you know dating rumours could be shitty for you too.

And that was being said to her even though she wasn't an idol. 

— Dan-chan is going there, he'll stay with you for the time being. — Naoki's voice came from Rika's side, she should be on speaker.

— You guys, I don't need a babysitter. — But she did feel like having company.

— Ana, did you forget about the schedule? Tomorrow they'll be rehearsing and then...

— Yes, he'll have some schedule here as well. — Because ITZY would be there, and so would he.

— Yeah, but he rang us saying he would get there earlier.

She would complain about the babysitting again, but she didn't want to talk anymore, the tiredness of all the work from lately reaching out to her.

— Ana-chan, please rest a little, we asked Jaebeom to call us to know about you. — Sometimes Naoki felt and sounded like the older brother she didn't have. — They're having their cellphones checked for hacking shit and will be out for some time.

— I'll just... — They waited knowing she wouldn't go down without a fight. — I miss Japan. — Holding the phone close to her chest Ana let herself fall to a lay position. 

— We miss you too, Nana-chan. Let us handle this, okay? Sleep a little. — And she complied, said her goodbyes and checked the phone she used in Korea, calls from all the boys, messages from a couple of them, Korean messages from an unknown number and a picture from Jaebeom.

"Won't be able to reach the phone for a while, hoping to see you tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again, but I suppose no one is really surprised, right? I come here with no apologies whatsoever but with this chapter, I hope, as always, you like it, and you can find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb.  
> I'm still working on the extras since we had more people discovering their relationship here I'm on Yugyeom and Bambam's discovery. See ya next week!


	14. Day seventy

Ana felt like it was the first time she was dating an idol.

I mean, she should have known things wouldn't be like their beginning forever. In a normal relationship people sometimes did long-distance, and with idols, it was more than sometimes. It was about time Ana accepted that.

— Will it kill you to stop dying by the second? 

Dan's voice came to Ana's ears loud and clear, but she refused to acknowledge him. She was waiting for work.

She got up from the bed too fast, hit her head somewhere and scratched her knee on the carpeted floor on her way to the cellphone.

— Say you have work for me! — Dan low key wanted to kill her for that, but Rika was all love towards the Brazilian girl these days taking pity on the fact that they had been learning just how much she cared about Jaebeom. 

By the way Ana ended the call without goodbyes and ran to her iPad he could only think that Rika had given in.

The fact that worried him and that did the same to Rika and Naoki was that now Ana was straight-up avoiding Jaebeom, and that made all their lives harder. Dan knew that and he wasn't even a relationship master. She would go to work, of course; Ana was everything but irresponsible; but she wouldn't leave any second late, she didn't let Jaebeom take her home either; dear didn't this decision trigger the whole adventure of Ana being lost in Seoul since she thought taking the bus home was a better idea than taking a cab? And she would avoid them outside the workplace

Dan discovered Ana's change had reached Brazil when he received a call from her mother.

— He's calling you again, could you please answer? — The cellphone was closer to him, and he was pretty sure she would ask him to do it for her. 

But she got up from her seat and strode in its direction. 

Disconnected the charger.

Went to the bedroom.

  
  
  


_ ~ day sixty-five ~ _

_ It was already night when the members got to the hotel, the whole ordeal of Bambam's scandal taking everything from them, and after that they even had rehearsals. They had a meeting with Ana by video call to discuss things that seemed kind of trivial then. _

_ He tried to talk to her by herself but she was giving Bambam some attention and consolation, he had left them to it. _

_ "Why did you leave, hyung?" The Thai asked him after exiting the conference room. "She asked about you." _

_ He mumbled something just to pretend he was answering, but everyone knew better. _

_ — Hyung, is that Dan-ssi? — Yugyeom had been quieter than usual, all of them kind of were, but now the maknae was pointing at the lobby's reception. _

_ — I'll head there. — He said already in motion, the height matched the stylist's but that was all since he was wearing a cap and mask. — Dan-ssi? _

_ — Not me. — He answered before turning, the lobby had been full a while ago with their fans. But then he turned and saw Jaebeom, the members at the other side waiting for their managers. — Jaebeom-ssi, hi. — He bowed lightly. — You guys are turning in for the night? _

_ — Yes, we are supposed to lay low for a bit. — He didn't know, but Rika had said the same thing to Ana about the two of them. — Are you staying on the same floor as us? _

_ — I'm staying with Ana tonight, I'll only be able to go to my bedroom tomorrow. — Dan lifted his head slowly, not realising what he was saying until it was done. _

_ — It's okay. — The leader said even though it didn't feel like that. — They cleared the floor for us, but they asked us. — He took a look at his members, it wasn't all of them. — They asked me to be extra careful for a while, but... _

_ — She understands. — The words got Dan to receive all his attention. — She doesn't like it but understands, we are in the same industry as you guys after all. _

_ It took a couple of seconds for Jaebeom to answer as if he was still digesting things. He was. _

_ — They cleared all the floor for us as of tomorrow but today is still a little risky… — He had a pleading look on his face that Dan knew exactly what meant, he used it all the time with Ana. _

_ — What can I do for you? — A sheepish smile grew against Jaebeom’s will. _

_ — I still shouldn’t call her, and… She works a lot when she goes to these studio’s things, so I suppose she’s not letting herself have proper rest, then… Could you make sure she rests? — His pale skin was tinted with a pink shade, but he went on. — And eats! She forgets to eat when she dives too much into her work. _

_ And Dan knew that. All the things the idol had just said because their friendship was not something recent. But the fact that he had realised, or that Ana had shown that much of herself in so little time meant a lot. Not to mention that the group leader wasn't even asking him to use his phone to talk to her, only to have her cared for. _

_ — I can try. — He looked up to meet the taller’s eyes. — But these are not easy things to do, you know, I can’t promise anything. _

_ — Oh, of course. But she sleeps after listening to Remember you around the third time, it usually works, and for food, she can’t resist Brazilian food, you must know this better than me. On our way here a Brazilian restaurant caught my eye but I didn’t catch its name… — He took his phone from his jacket’s pocket. — I can look it up though. _

_ Dan was using all his inner strength not to smile at that, Jaebeom did know shit about Ana and was assuring Dan; her best friend for more than a decade; it was going to work. He had a smile fixed on his face while telling him the things. _

  
  


Ana never stayed on the phone in silence for so long. 

When Dan asked her to answer Jaebeom’s call she was already planning to do so, she knew that asking that from her friend was not the right thing to be done, and she was planning to apologize as well. 

And there they were, Jaebeom and Ana breathing on the phone each one on their side. They took their time waiting to say something, but Ana felt reassured at least by the knowledge that they were doing practically the same thing, breathing on the phone. Somehow it felt enough at the moment.

— I’m down here. — And she wasn’t even half surprised by that. Even if it was two in the morning. — There’s no one on the streets.

And that had to be enough. Enough that he hadn’t given up since she started avoiding him, that he hadn’t made any kind of pressure to discover the truth behind her “I’m a little overworked.” Because no one bought that. 

Youngjae may have though.

— Jaebeom-ah… — She said not in a whine, she had told herself not to whine.

— It’s okay if you don’t come down. — She could hear his steps, he was pacing. — I just wanted to let you know that there’s no one around… — She could picture him making his hair a mess with his free hand. — We… we have a schedule tomorrow afternoon, it was in the morning, but…

— I asked them to change it. — Because she was still on their wellbeing; specially Jaebeom’s; even though not up close.

She sighed.

— Please don’t hang up. — It was the urgency in his voice that made her stand up from where she was seated by her bed’s side.

She took off without saying a word to Dan, his eyes on her, the front door ajar from her passing. She was running down the stairs in no time.

They didn’t meet at her front door, they had never walked past that together, even before they had started dating. She saw him inside the parking lot of her building, and before she knew it she was holding herself together with effort to make sure not to run towards him. She checked if her lungs were getting enough air. It had been days since they had seen each other because their schedules were working towards her decision to keep some distance between them.

— Long time no see. — As his voice reached her ears like honey dripping from a wooden pot she felt like reaching out to him. Jackson or Mark had to have helped him because he said that in Chinese, and he knew how sensitive she was to certain phrases in certain languages.

Her steps towards Jaebeom were faltering just like her decision to stay away for her reason or reach out for her body’s will.

— Long time no see. — She repeated the words, maintaining a little distance between the two of them. Eyes glued on the floor.

— Do you want to go for a walk? — And at two in the morning, it was such a Jaebeom thing to suggest that she almost lost her willpower to stay away and blunt. — There are barely people outside and I brought a cap.

She had to listen to that once again to finally understand that he knew her real reason as well. He knew she was afraid to be seen with him and cause a whole scandal like Bambam’s.

They walked side by side for a long time, not even he could’ve counted.

— I’m sorry I haven’t been answering your calls lately. — She broke the silence after a while, he looked at her sideways, her eyes still staring at the ground.

— When Dan first arrived in Thailand a couple of days ago he said something very interesting. — She was clearly distracted.

— Did he?

— He said you understood. — Her eyes jumped to him at that. — When we couldn’t talk on the phone, he said you understood that. — Ana’s mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. — And then… then I saw you in the middle of some sort of call I couldn’t understand, but Rika-san… she told me you had some problems with SM because of the contract right?

— You heard my call with Mr Allen? — He turned his face away from her, they had matching caps and masks, it felt like all they would be having with the matching outfits things. — You know that’s already sorted out, right? — He turned back to her.

— How? — His eyes were full of disbelief, she didn’t mind though.

— They made a whole show in the first confrontation, threats and shit. — She sighed at that, but there was a smile on her face. — Did it affect me? Can’t lie saying it didn’t, even though I don’t  _ really _ need all the money from that contract it is important, having SM on our book calls for more and… Anyway. — Ana let out a dry laugh. — They didn’t know about our Chinese franchise at the time, yesterday I personally received a call again. They are making a WayV comeback and want me to do it. — Another sigh. — Problem solved.

He looked at her with the weirdest look in his eye. He thought he understood her reason to keep their distance, but now his whole theory crumbled down.

— But then… — And there they were talking; the other members had been giving them names, finding some of their features and calling them by those, they once called them mute couple. — I thought you were afraid we were discovered.

— I am. — Her eyes looking straight ahead.

— Not because of the SM contract, though? — He stopped their walk at that, his mind on fire on the look for the actual reason.

— No. — She was looking up so she could see his eyes. — Did you think  _ that  _ was the reason?

— I guess.

— Jaebeom-ah. — Her smile was wide after listening to that, he couldn’t say why, though. — I don’t think you know that, not even I completely understand that properly, but the studio has its schedule full for the year and a half for the next. — The night was windy and Ana's hands ran through her arms. — And I'm well off enough to keep all our team up for a good time.

He was fast to take his jacket off and put it on her. It was the first time he heard her bragging about herself.

— Will you tell me what's your reason if not the SM contract? — He pulled her through the jacket gently.

— It's okay if I lose a contract or some shit. — Her voice wavered. — But what if your fans freak out because someone leaks something about us? This is the year before your enlistment, how would we... — She put her head down leaning on his chest. 

— Are you worried about  _ Got7 _ ? — He wanted to see her eyes, but she was still leaning into him. — Ana-ya...

— I don't want your whole work to go to waste because of us. — Her voice was very low as she took a step back. His mind took a while to understand what she was doing, the wind getting stronger. 

Ana shed the jacket and put it back in his hands.

The thought that came to his mind was one that he wouldn’t like to share, and just so he wouldn’t make a fuss without necessity he decided to consider himself wrong. He  _ had  _ been wrong before.

Jaebeom had to go after her, the wind making their hair float around them, hers free and his tied.

— Ana. — He channelled all the certainty he had in the two of them to call her name. — Ana, wait!

And he was already running even before the rain started falling.

He would run to stop her from putting more distance between them, to make sure the things between them; that he made sure to build with so much care; wouldn’t break before dawn. But when the water started falling piercing through their numbness they both ran to find shelter. It was clear that the rain wasn’t going to last long, but it was making them wet very fastly, when he reached her he repeated his action of putting the jacket on her to provide some protection.

Because they had walked themselves to a godforsaken place there was no open place for them to hide from the rain, so after finding a tree not too far from where they were Jaebeom took Ana’s hand and ran to it.

Ana was shivering from the night cold.

— That’s not exactly what I was planning. — He laughed holding her close, hands inside the jacket.

— I thought you were going to keep me away from the cold, not this. — It sounded like a scold but he felt her hands around him and felt reassured.

— You know both Jack and Rose could have survived the Titanic thing, right? — At that, they laughed together.

He held his breath as she sighed, preparing for what was to come.

— It felt uncomfortable not being able to have proper communication for  _ days. _ — She had been doing that lately, putting her feelings out there but he knew it was like a prologue to the main point. — But that's how shit goes, right?

— What do you mean? — He loosened their hug so he could look at her eyes. A kiss on her forehead before that.

— I tend to get bored with long-distance shit, but somehow. — She looked deep inside his eyes instead of hiding away. — I keep missing you and… It’s not only Got7 but us as well. — She leaned her forehead on his chest but only to take a breath, she was back in no time. — Bambam’s shit wasn’t even real, what would it be like if something of ours leaked?

— You know I have the right to have a girlfriend, right? — He had moved his hand from her waist to her cheek. — We no longer have a ban regarding this and most of us have girlfriends or at least flings.

She tilted her head smiling fondly.

— Flings, Jaebeom?

— Ana-ya… — He caressed her cheek again. — I’m not ready to give up on you just yet. — His turn to sigh. — Could you insist on us a little longer?

He whispered near her ear, feeling her shiver once again, this time not because of the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, I'm still alive, yes I am. I did vanish from the face of earth for a while because "that's how shit goes" as Ana would very well say. I do plan to go back to posting weekly and I hope you're up for some adventure because we're very near the point where things start to get real, or serious since this is a work of fiction. Anyways, thank you for waiting for One Year's comeback all this time, as always you can find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb!!


	15. Day ninety-two

April’s arrival had always been a huge deal in Ana’s mindset, but it was most certainly the first time in years she wouldn’t fly to Brazil for her parents’ birthday.

— You make me get there late again and we’ll start having problems. — Ana had her cellphone pressed against her ear talking to her father, but the scold was meant for Jaebeom, who received a kiss in contrast from her tone.

— Am I making you late? — She forgot for a second that her father had been listening to her, by her side, Jaebeom held a laugh inside and left her parking lot silently.

— No-no-no! — She pressed her fingers hard against her forehead. — I’m leaving for work and just took a ride, dad, I was talking to someone else. — She said the last part in Portuguese, they had been speaking English before that, and Jaebeom was getting better at the language by the second.

— Are we still on for our meet? — Her father sounded almost apologetic at that, she felt bad. 

— Of course we are! I’m dying for not being able to go home this year, of course we’ll have time together here.

Because her parents were to come to Korea next week.

And she hadn’t decided either to tell them about Jaebeom or not.

— Let's talk more later when you get home, okay? — She mumbled an affirmation and sent love to her mother who was most certainly by his side.

— We are here. — She looked out from her window to discover they were already in the JYPE building.

— Did you fly here instead of driving? — She said smiling, his own smile forming sheepishly, he had the audacity of blushing. 

— You did say you didn't want to arrive late, right? — The words got him a kiss on the border between his cheek and lips.

— Do you have free time today? I'd like to talk to you about something. — She typed in her phone while he gathered his things to go in.

— Not really, maybe lunch? We do have an appointment together at five, but I don't think we'll have time to talk about personal stuff, right? — She smiled knowing that it was mostly up to her, she was the one conducting the five o'clock meeting.

— I'll just pitch the situation to you on our way up and then we can discuss it on our way home? — She was on her way out because he was taking all the time in the world to gather his things. — Are you coming out today, Beom-ah?

He looked up at her, a smile on his face preventing her to get mad at him. — On my way.

  
  


_ ~ day seventy-one ~ _

_ What woke them up that morning was Jaebeom's phone. _

_ They refused to knowledge it for a long time. They had enjoyed the time of sleep after getting to his house and drying themselves from the rainwater. He was too worried and she was too chilled "It's not like those dramas when the girl gets sick after one shower of rain, Jaebeom-ah" _

_ They took her temperature before heading to bed anyway. _

_ — Our schedule is free in the morning, why would someone bother us in a time like this? — Ana's complaint was muffled against his bare chest, that riverbed with an internal laugh. _

_ They snuggled closer in an attempt to block the outside world, but the next thing they knew there was a knock at his door and Ana was grumbling. _

_ — Let me just make sure the world isn’t ending, okay? _

_ And with that, he left the bed.  _

_ When she heard one loud voice she left as well, careful at first, but when she realised it was Youngjae's she strode her way out. _

_ — And no one has been able to reach her, Dan-ssi says she left to meet you but never came back, and now she got late for work and... _

_ His eyes were open in full force, she had never seen the idol that worried, and he hadn't even put on the slippers to get in the house, both hands tugging Jaebeom to the door. _

_ — Youngjae-kun, what's wrong? — Jaebeom's eyes looked at her in a panicked fashion. _

_ — She's here? — The younger one asked the leader. — You are here? _

_ She walked to them slowly, sleep still clouding her thoughts. _

_ — As you can see... — She leaned her head on Jaebeom's side stifling a yawn. _

_ — Everyone is crazy after you! We were about to reach Rika-san.  _

_ She didn't see how red her boyfriend's face had turned. _

_ — Why that?  _

_ — Because you had never been this late to work! Even Dan-ssi was alarmed. _

_ — The first thing I have to do will be in the afternoon, Youngjae-kun, there's time. _

_ — Ana-ya... — Jaebeom started but Youngjae interrupted. _

_ — It's two o'clock already Ana-yaaa! _

_ Those words made her sleep go away in a second. _

_ She heard the two of them yelling her name at her leave. _

  
  


— Was that your father on the phone? — The two of them took the elevator in no time, the time up fast and chill, their arms brushing lightly. 

— Yes. — She sighed, changing her position to be in front of him, now they were holding hands.

— It's their birthday this month, right? Your parents'.

— Yeah, and they are coming next week... — She turned to him when they left the elevator, both were having the first activity of the day on the same floor. — I've been receiving these messages in Korean that I have no idea what they mean, and—

— I thought you were learning, Ana. — He said in a mock of a scold and in English of all languages.

— Some vocabulary, but I still can't read shit, I have all these Chinese characters in my mind lately. — Walking side by side would only have them brushing their arms, but Ana was satisfied with the minimum contact. They finally reached a room, it was the one Ana was working on that day and it would be soon flooded with staff from a variety of groups.

— Are you possibly giving more attention to NCT than us? — He had his chin on her shoulder and had left the phone behind to nudge her neck with his nose.

— It’s WayV, and it tickles. — She changed phones and kept typing. — We have three minutes before someone barges in.

— Let me breathe you in so I can go until five.

And she let him, but in no time he turned her around so he could kiss her properly.

  
  


_ ~ day seventy-six ~ _

_ Before April came, the group partied at the end of March with Jackson’s birthday. _

_ The whole thing was way more simple than Bambam’s whole deal for manager Jeong, all of them just lounging at his Korean house.  _

_ — I hear you and Jaebeom are making great advances very fastly, hm? — All the girls were there that night, even Jieun having a break from her tight schedule of an actress. _

_ — First time I get to work  _ ten minutes  _ late and the whole universe gets to know about it? — She yawned. — You guys are  _ so _ extra! _

_ They were indeed, but the thing had been the real deal since Ana never did things like that. It had been the first night she spent inside Jaebeom’s embrace, and the adventure made her realise sleeping using his chest as a pillow was like taking a sleeping pill. _

_ — Don’t blame you. — Yeeun laughed her words out, all the other girls eyeing her. — Jaebeom looks like a person you’d call in sick for. _

_ Ana swallowed the content of her cup bitterly, for the first time in the night wanting to consume some alcohol, but the next morning promised to be a full one with all the boys, so she decided to keep her senses as on as possible. _

_ — I don’t know about that, but last time we all gathered she was denying being involved with Jaebeom, I’m afraid we’ll be dealing with pregnancy rumours next time. — Ella made Ana laugh at the idea. She didn’t have enough time to think about pregnancy shit, let alone getting pregnant. _

_ — No babies on our horizon. — The boys came all in one, Jaebeom talking. _

_ — My man. — Ana smiled as he approached her, hands already finding comfort in caressing his head. _

_ — Are all of you featuring Ana’s upcoming collection? — Jieun asked with Jinyoung by her side now, the couple holding hands in a married fashion. — I saw some advertising about it somewhere. _

_ — Don’t think we should talk about that though. — Yugyeom warned the older woman. _

_ Jieun tilted her head to the side in confusion. _

_ — Not all the boys have a space on their schedule to do so, Jieun-san, you know how busy Jaebeom-ssi and Jinyoung-ssi are this year, right? _

_ Six of the seven men in the room eyed each other. Ana’s hand never stopping its movement on Jaebeom’s head. _

_ — My manager said you were still looking for a female representant, is that right? — The question lifted the tension a little, all of them remembering how into work Jieun could be sometimes. _

_ — Yes, if they are open for some international potential contract it would be great, I’m not very close with female idols and the ones I know are packed already, the idea of having an actress never crossed my mind though. _

_ — Jieun-ah let's grab a drink? — Jinyoung was dragging her away in a second, and fastly the whole group parted once again around Jackson’s house. _

  
  


_ Ana and Jaebeom were the firsts to leave the gathering, Ana spared Jackson the warmest of the hugs and promised to design him something great for his next official outing. Jaebeom warned everyone about the next day's activities and was mocked by all of them, even Ana. _

_ — Ana’s brand deal is kind of a sensitive matter around here these days. — Youngjae seated by Jinyoung's side and eyed his girlfriend fondly. _

_ — What about that? _

_ Yeeun and Mark reached the group right after.  _

_ — Ana was closing with us, everything ready when manager Kim told her it wasn’t going to be possible for Jaebeom-hyung and Jinyoung-hyung because they were already signed with other brands. — Bambam said bringing bottles from behind the counter. _

_ — She doesn’t show it, but I think it got her mad. — Yugyeom said pouting. _

_ — It’s only fair, she was counting on us for that… — Youngjae got up to get non-alcoholic drinks, he too was preparing for a clear head the day after the party. — Sometimes it feels like he is against the two of them. _

_ — Against? — Yeeun marvelled. — He never seemed to be against any of us though. _

_ — And in their defence, Ana is the most discrete one from us all. — Jackson was leaning into Ella’s embrace. — Sometimes she keeps us in line better than manager Kim himself. _

_ — The reality is clear, you guys. — Everyone turned their attention to Jinyoung's smiling face. — He’s afraid she’ll steal his job. _

  
  


— Would it hurt for you guys to at least give some freaking suggestions? — It was five and Ana was in a meeting with the group and their producers. They had to choose the tracks they would use for the remastering Ana had suggested.

— Ana-san is right, you guys, for now we only have I like you and it’s almost ready, we need to start working on the rest. — One producer by Ana’s side pleaded.

— I feel like anything we come up with after choosing I like you will come out as flat. — Ana rolled her eyes at Jaebeom’s remark.

— Don’t get her started, Jaebeommie. — The other producer laughed.

— You guys are giving me material to do nothing, I’ll be in Japan next week and most of you will have schedules overseas,  _ please _ , let’s come up with options, we won’t be able to sell an album with one remastered track. — She used her final voice.

But they dared to use the puppy look, at least most of them since Jinyoung felt too mighty to do so.

— You have no schedule for the next three hours, I’ll be going to a meeting with the concept department and will be back before you leave. — She was by the door in no time but went back inside to end what she had to say. — I hope to have enough material to keep me up for the night, no puppy look will make up for this. 

She left after that, knowing that she didn’t need more material to be up with work all night.

  
  


_ ~ day eighty ~ _

_ It was April’s fools day and Ana was not having a blast. She hated lies, and by association the first of April as well. _

_ — I know you wanted someone else to be your driver today, Ana dear, but your scowl is killing the mood today. — Bambam said that from the seat behind her. _

_ They were again riding the van, even if they weren’t in their full formation.  _

_ — I’m sorry about that, you guys. — She was typing her fingers away. — I just keep receiving these Korean messages that are pretty much filling my phone and… — She gave up so hard that an urge to throw the phone away had to be suppressed. _

_ — Don’t you know what it’s about? — Youngjae looked at her through the mirror with a worried look. _

_ — Minsun-san says it’s some kind of sponsored shit… Anyways, don’t you guys want to sing or do something so I can chill?  _

_ Youngjae didn’t wait for a second call, he was harmonising in no time. _

  
  


_ Later that day the five of them were being called by an unnerved Mark willing above all to leave. He was walking around the van with his phone in hand, sending messages to their group chat and their private ones. _

_ His cellphone rang with Jaebeom’s name shining on the screen. He answered mad, huffing without patience. _

_ — Not a good time, Jaebeom-ah. — His voice sounded as mad as he was, but the image of Yugyeom, Jackson and Bambam moving towards him calmed his insides a little. — Where’s Ana and Youngjae? _

_ — That’s what I was going to ask you. — Jaebeom said, seeming to be in a hurry, from the leader’s side of the call Mark heard the younger’s name being called. — I’ve been calling her for hours but she’s avoiding my calls. _

_ — Youngjae-hyung is looking for her. — Yugyeom answered. — Jackson-hyung chose him because he’s not the younger so he’ll be more responsible than me and Bam, but also not the oldest, so Jackson would make sure we arrived. _

_ — You guys are not children in need to be escorted, so, please. _

_ — Mark-hyung! — Jaebeom yelled in his ear. — Ana! _

_ — You guys, Jaebeom says Ana is refusing his calls, do you think she has a reason to be mad at him? _

_ — I don’t think so, but I’m not a girl, they think weirdly. — Yugyeom said and Jackson agreed. _

_ — I understand girls’ minds and Ana is not mad at Jaebeom-hyung, maybe at manager Kim, but not Jaebeom-hyung. _

_ — Mark-hyung Ana isn’t mad at me! Something’s wrong, please find her! — Mark heard Jaebeom’s name being called again, by the time it was the leader still needed to go to another photoshoot. _

_ — Jaebeom-ah, end your activities and find us later, okay? We are going to the next set in no time, see ya. _

_ Mark ended the call before Jaebeom could lose his mind. _

_ — You guys, where on Earth is Ana?! _

  
  


— Are you still not free? — He was walking after her, they were supposed to head home where he had a home-cooked meal to be prepared for her.

— Not really, I still have to check some details for a couple of outfits for “I like you”, your trainer is going to meet me for that, and then I have to check if the ones we are going to use for tomorrow’s shooting are ready because there was a problem with one of Mark’s, and— 

— And we were going to talk while heading home. — They had entered a rehearsal room to wait for their trainer, he stopped in front of her interrupting her walk. — What about that?

— We’ll have to reschedule that, trainer Ji will be coming in no time. — She checked her phone to be sure.

— Will you let me come back to take you home after? — He whispered near her ear.

— I’ll let you call me a car to take me home, not risking the bus thing tonight.

He looked inside her eyes only to tease her because changing her mind was out of the question.

— Leader Lim! — It had to be trainer Ji since no one else called Jaebeom like that. — I didn’t know you were going to join us tonight.

— Leader Lim is actually on his way out, I’ll text you the things you were asking for when I end here, please sleep so you can be fine in tomorrow’s shooting.

  
  


_ ~ day eighty ~ _

_ When Jaebeom arrived at JYPE Ana was pacing around the room, Bambam intercepted him right at the door warning him about the danger of trying to stop her. Mark was silently typing on her phone clearly analysing something. He stopped her from walking. _

_ She had a confused look on her face but behind the first emotion, he could see some despair. _

_ — Are you okay? — He placed his hands around her face holding her to him, cheeks hot and red. _

_ — Mark is checking the phone, but I’m sure a whole conversation was erased… — It was clear his little restraint wasn’t helping, Ana looked more anxious than when he first arrived. — When I found it it was unlocked, so I’m sure someone went through this. — He chose to set her free. _

_ She was back to her pacing ritual in no time. _

_ — Did you find anything? — The leader was next to Mark, the older looking intently to the phone. _

_ — I’m just taking a last look around but I think there’s no hacking shit here. — He looked up at Jaebeom. — I told her everything is okay, but she’s very concerned. _

_ As Mark turned back to his last definite search at her phone. He turned around and gave Youngjae a pleading look, the sunshine was unashamedly one of her favourites. _

_ — Ana-chan. — Youngjae got her eyes at that. — I know you are very uneasy with all of this, but what about you letting Jaebeom-hyung take you home after Mark-hyung ends things with your phone? _

_ She looked at the other members as if to find some sort of support. _

_ — I’m sure there’s nothing there to be found, Ana, dear. — Bambam smiled his way near her. — You are the most careful one among us. — He held her hands and shook them. — Remember who was the one to scold me after the scandal last month? _

_ No one could tell if she had sighed or taken a deep breath, Ana was the kind of person who sighed  _ all the time _. _

_ — Are you sure there’s no hacking shit there? — She gave Mark the most vulnerable look. _

_ — Trust me, I’ve been the hacker of this group for a while now. — He gave the phone away to the owner and then a hug. Five more hugs followed suit, even Jinyoung spared her one. _

_ — I’m sorry we haven’t been able to complete the photoshoot today, guys… _

_ The room was flooded with all kinds of reassurances from the members, Jaebeom took her by the hand so they could leave. _

  
  


_ They were reaching her apartment compound when her cellphone rang with a call from her mother. She got so startled it felt her insides were trying to leave her body, she knew if the news came it would be through a phone call. _

_ Jaebeom’s free hand caressed hers that was fidgeting with the material of her full skirt. She thanked him through her eyes, the meeting happening through the mirror since he didn’t take his eyes from the road. _

_ She threw her head back after the call, his hand pressing a little harder than before. _

_ — What do you want me to do? — They were driving around her place, creating more time together. _

_ — Can you take me home? — Her eyes were closed and his answer was never voiced, he just drove away. _

  
  


— I’m safely inside, Jaebeom-ah, please end the call! — She yawned while changing her shoes to slippers, the weight from the day’s work heavy on her shoulders. — Let’s bid goodnight and prepare for tomorrow, okay? We need the jacket shooting to be great.

— You promised me a talk, babe, are you going to go back on your word?

She laughed at that, lately, her boyfriend had been testing new nicknames that made her freaking flustered all the time. She fell on the couch feeling that maybe, just maybe she wouldn’t be able to pull an allnighter.

— Beom-ah, I’m deadly tired, please cut me some slack.

— I’ll set you free for now, do eat something before bed, hmm? — She almost laughed at that, she was planning to spend the night at her living room knowing getting to the bedroom would be too tiring of an adventure, let alone cook something from her pool of a fridge.

— Good night, Beom-ah…

— Good night, babe. 

Ana’s heavy eyelids closed peacefully, she had forgotten the promise of calling her father after arriving home.

Do know she was very surprised when her doll bell rang.

— Who the hell in this ungodly hour? — She got up with the force of hatred fuelling her actions, it was a mistake not to check who it was before opening the door, but she would only think about that later.

  
  


The ride from his house to Ana’s was not a long one, and he knew it by heart already. She didn’t have a car in Korea at the moment, so he would always use her spot at the parking lot to place his car. It wasn’t different that night.

He got out of the car only to open the back door, where he took the supplies for his late-night plan.

He knew for a fact that Ana was much too tired to cook herself any kind of thing, and to be truthful there was never enough in her fridge, so he had to go all the way out and take the ingredients for the food he was planning to make. His arms were full, so he preferred taking the stairs.

Maybe it was Ana’s paranoia with being exposed all the time, but waiting for someone to press the elevator button could open the possibility of him being recognised.

He was gasping for air when he reached her floor, the way up was not that heavy, but the things he was carrying were. He pressed the numbers of her passwords fastly as if it would lower the sound.

Of course it didn’t.

So he thought it would suit the moment to use one of Ana’s favourite Chinese phrases he had mastered a week before and was just waiting for the right moment to use it.

— I’m home. — He said in a singing voice, but the answer was not what he was waiting for.

There were a couple around Ana in the living room.

— Never thought you would go for a Chinese one, dear. — The woman laughed.

— His Chinese is not that polished, I’m assuming it’s not his native language. — The man looked very serious and pierced Jaebeom with his eyes.

He knew those faces from pictures he had seen from Ana’s house. Jaebeom guessed it was no longer up for discussion if they were going to tell her parents about him or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I back in the right day, or is it just some sort of joke?   
> I GUESS I AM  
> Thank you for coming to this point and hold my hand through this journey, rest assured, it'll be all bumpy and shit, because that's how shit goes, right? ALSO, we're about to get to the point when things get more and more serious, I hope this won't disappoint you. As always I'm on Tumblr as AkaIjb you can always find me there (unless I'm a hiding period)


	16. Day one hundred and one

— Ana-yaaa, ANA-YAAA!

The stylist was peacefully seated on the most uncomfortable chair she knew in the building when Youngjae's voice came to her. She was on her feet running to the sound in no time. Her cellphone fell on her way out of the room.

She had to take three turns and a door to reach him. And the bastard was smiling brightly when she got a hold of his face.

— You aren't dying. — She huffed impatiently, his smile shining brighter. — Why are you not dying, Youngjae-kun? — She couldn't believe that, but his eyes kept staring at her in such an exciting way she felt the anger start losing its strength.

— Don't I look amazing in it? — He twirled on his pedestal, Wanatabe Mizuki, one of the junior stylists, trying to take notes of the details of his outfit.

If she was a little less sleep-deprived she would've agreed earlier.

— You do dear. — Her smile was set free after his comment. — Does it feel comfortable enough?

— You know it does. — He got down from his upper spot to hug her. 

She smiled and snuggled closer, Ana didn't know the reason for that but accepted nonetheless.

— What is this for? — She was hugging him back when he took a step back. 

— You teach us to hug all the time and then ask for a reason? — He went back to his previous place. — You make no sense.

She laughed at his comment. Youngjae was only one of the boys who were changing around her.

  
  


_ ~ day ninety-three ~ _

_ Everyone seemed to go with their own business as the whole world stopped for Ana. _

_ After Ana's parents left the room to her bedroom saying they would give her "Some space, dear." Jaebeom was fast to make his way to her medium kitchen. As if nothing had just happened. Maybe it was her sleepy state, she was known to be a little weird when sleepy. _

_ — Jaebeom-ah, are you going to go there and cook as if nothing had happened? — She was whispering her despair to him, after all, her parents were just a couple of meters away. _

_ — I know you have no energy whatsoever and would sleep hungry. — He had the audacity of saying that with his back to her already working on the meal. — How do you want to proceed about this? _

_ She wanted to laugh putting a flavourous sarcasm on her tone, but the approach didn't fit her at all.  _

_ It was the scene she would have to work with. Her idol of a boyfriend cooking for her in the kitchen and her parents; who had flown to Korea to surprise  _ her  _ around  _ their _ birthday date. _

_ — Can we work on the talk about telling them about you or not? — She got nearer, but not too much, Jaebeom liked to have space to do his cooking and her kitchen space was not that great. — It was the thing I wanted to talk about earlier, but now I guess we should do it faster than I thought. _

_ — Don't think you'll have to think about telling them or not, I think by now they already know. — The audacity held, looking back at her with a smiling face and eyes with the form of a crescent moon. _

_ — What? — Her brain was malfunctioning, it had to be that. _

_ — The question is if you want to introduce me to them or not. — He was back to paying attention to his cooking. Convenient. _

_ — I need to know if  _ you want _ to be introduced to them or not, Beom-ah, this is not just about me. _

_ He stopped his hands at that, then turned to face her. Both of them had been whispering all along. He got very near her but not enough for them to touch, the hands protected with dirty plastic gloves he would sometimes use to cook. _

_ — I'm saying that because I'm more than okay by doing that, my side of the decision is this, now is time for you to decide. — He then turned back to his cooking so she could decide on her own. — If you prefer I can finish cooking and then I can leave, but leaving with nothing to eat is not up to discussion. _

_ He was firm without even looking at her. It felt like they took turns between ordering and obeying. But what about her decision? The fact that Jaebeom was ready to meet her parents properly came with the implication of him being serious about them, but what about her? Was Ana serious enough about their relationship to let him meet her parents? _

  
  


— You have to make sure this is ready until later today because I'll be flying to Japan tomorrow. — She knew there was someone else entering the room even before she looked at them because the junior stylist's eyes had just jumped after looking through Ana. JYPE seemed to be giving her all their junior stylists, but only the juniors.

— I'll be back with it in no time! — The young girl said as she left the room, Jaebeom and Jinyoung were at the door.

— Guess you guys snatched one more heart, hmm? — It had to be one of them, but she didn't know which one, being seated on the table matching designs that would pretty much close the whole outfit line for their second MV of the upcoming era.

— Unlucky girl. — She heard Jinyoung.

— Clearly, since you're  _ so damn _ taken, but maybe...

— Not open for business either. — And she smiled because that voice right there was Jaebeom's, and she felt giddy. 

— My belated princes, right? — She turned around on her chair.

They were alone in the room, the door closed and both of them near the door. She felt lucky and rebellious enough to go to Jaebeom and hug him.

— You guys are gross. — Jinyoung pouted, making his leader blush and Ana snicker.

— I'm Brazilian Jinyoung-kun, telling me I’m gross in a relationship is nothing but an understatement.

  
  


She was happy with her creations, and that almost meant that the work would be great. She got her phone to send Dan a message calling him to check on the outfits, with luck he would be free. She dismissed two messages in Korean to start typing her Portuguese one.

— Youngjae said no one can look better than him in this MV, is this some kind of sabotage? — Jaebeom left the bathroom with his regular clothes on, Jinyoung had already left.

— He was indeed great in the last outfit, I can't deny, but you have to give it away, you were too good-looking at “I like you”. — He laughed so softly she felt around clouds. — If we let you slay like that in two MVs in a row without a gap of months I'm sure you'll be losing most of your stans.

— It wouldn't kill you though. — He smiled, getting closer. The damned were out of control that day.

— Why are you assuming I'm a JB stan? — She teased tilting her head to the side, but there was a giggle coming out of her in no time.

— Ana... — He said in a mock of dangerous tone, her giggles getting louder as his breath reached her neck.

But then someone was knocking on the door and Ana was jumping from the table she took as a seat. She eyed Jaebeom in annoyance, she missed spending time with him, but it had been impossible to find him alone lately.

He would say the same about her.

— Tell me you didn’t forget to get the children at school today. — She was officially in the team maker of jokes about them parenting Got6.

But when she opened the door it was the junior stylist she had given an assignment earlier. 

— Come in, Wanatabe-san. — Ana called making a face to Jaebeom, the young girl blushed her way in behind her.

— Could you take a look at it? — She said in something that could barely be described as a whisper. 

— Of course, dear! — She smiled and shooed Jaebeom from their working table.

— Wanatabe-san? Are you not Korean? — She looked up at him with ease.

— No sir, I'm Japanese.

Meanwhile, Ana was silently analysing the younger's work. She was being throughout as always, Jaebeom sometimes pitied the stylists who worked under her, Ana was the most demanding boss. He once got her scolding a couple of the members for not giving their best.

"Are you guys tired or something? If you need rest it's okay, we can reschedule, but it has to be gorgeous and you guys aren't being gorgeous right now."

He shivered at her tone and worked twice as hard that day.

— Wanatabe-san, can I call you by your first name? It feels too distant like this. — He knew that about her, she would call people by their last name by respect, but she didn't like it. — Would it be okay with you?

Only then she spared the girl a look, eyes full of life. Neither one of the spectators knew what said expression meant.

— Mi-Mizuki-chan! — The answer took some seconds to come, but when it came it was somehow too forceful. — I can answer by that! — Ana nodded and turned back to the design sheets and Mark's outfit. — Or if you prefer to name me something else it's okay too!

Jaebeom barely held back his laugh.

— Do you prefer being called by a nickname? — Ana was looking at the details of the outfit, it looked great to Jaebeom's eyes but he had seen her refuse so many things for reasons he didn't know.

— Not really... I kind of like my name. — She waved her hands in front of herself in a way that reminded him of anime characters. 

— Than Mizuki-chan it is. — She turned to the girl smiling. — I love the things you came up with, the details are greatly oriented by the mood board I gave you for reference, but there's also some edge to it. — He saw Mizuki's neck turning red. Both of them waiting for a more clear explanation from Ana. — You fixed Mark's outfit problem and came up with gorgeous things, I'd like to have you closer to me.

And Jaebeom felt nostalgic at that, remembering when Ana built the whole situation so he could finally ask her to date him. If he was to be taken as an example he would say Mizuki felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

— Please take care of things around here while I'm out. — She was back to gathering the papers, Jaebeom knew she felt uncomfortable leaving them with other stylists. — I'll give you my personal number so you don't need to go through other people to talk to me, okay? — And that had to be the greatest thing since Ana was barely reachable to all the boys in their first two weeks working together, it took a while for her to let them know her number. 

The girl bowed, stuttered and almost took a mannequin on her way out of the room.

— I guess you were wrong here. — He commented while she started gathering her things to leave, he got a hard look because of that. — That girl is so not a JB stan, you can rest assured.

— Is she not? — She said in amusement. — Who does she stan than?

— She's a classic Ana stan. Very near the front line, I'd say, maybe somewhere between me and Rika-san.

— Oh really? And between you and Rika, who would be in the front?

— Surely Rika-san, I don't think even your parents stan you as hard as that one. — Ana snickered, but her cheeks were tinged in pink.

  
  


_ ~ day ninety-three ~ _

_ When Ana invited her parents back from the bedroom Jaebeom was going back and forth to the kitchen and the living room with the food he had made. She felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room to fit all of them, it felt like dying.  _

_ They had had the talk, in an emergency like that Jaebeom's light approach helped a lot, but made her feel as if she was lacking in commitment. That or he was just being careless. Her mother was the one to pat her arm indicating the table that was still being filled with food. The woman always said Ana finding a man that was good at cooking was a matter of survival. _

_ Ana almost blushed herself to death. _

_ — Won't you at least help the poor guy, Nana? — Her father asked in a tease. She rushed her way to Jaebeom. _

_ And in no time they were all seated at the table. In deadly silence. _

_ — Nana, my love, you'll make the boy uncomfortable. — Her mother pressed as Ana only cooperated with the weirdness of the situation. They were speaking Portuguese above all. _

_ — I guess we all speak Japanese, right? — She almost yelled. _

_ — You are a great cook, Jaebeom-san, I'm happy Ana has you around. — They were halfway through the meal when her mother said that, making her skin crawl a little. And that was weird in Ana's eyes since she had done the same when they met Johnny, and that didn't bother her at all that time. _

_ — Mom... — She pleaded uncomfortably. _

_ — Ana's cooking is a little scary, I guess. — He said without caring for the previous almost-conflict. His hands caressing Ana's. — I only heard of it, though, there are stories about it around. — His smiling face looked at her fondly. And just like that she felt reassured, the need to maintain Jaebeom and her parents apart was baseless. _

_ Both her parents laughed at his comment, and she was sure he was being nothing but truthful, his eyes shaped in crescents glistering with a glimmer that made her blush around her ears. She laughed as well. _

_ And the rest of the dinner went on smoothly. _

_ By the end of it, Ana was well fed and sleepy all over again. Standing by Jaebeom doing the dishes and giving it to him to dry and put aside she stopped for a little. The work from the previous day; since it was way past midnight already; reaching out to her once again.  _

_ — You should think about turning in for the night, shouldn't you? — He gave a suggestion knowing all too well sleepy Ana didn't take orders very well. The next second he was pushing her aside to take her place. _

_ — But my parents… _

_ — I can take them to their hotel. — He half said and half hummed, it felt great to listen to him like that, she felt like melting. _

_ She wanted to squint at him, but in her sleepy haze, it was hard to concentrate enough to do so. Her parents were lounging in her living room, their whispery talk not loud enough to reach them, she wanted to let them go with Jaebeom, but at the same time, it felt like he was doing too much already. _

_ — It does sound great, but you are already here making food and shit, it would be asking too much from you. — She got to know by the time they spent together that Jaebeom was very straight forward, but she was not that much. _

_ — Had I thought it was too much I wouldn’t be offering. — He didn’t stop doing the dishes to answer her. _

_ And that had to be it, the “it” in question being way more than what she could ask from someone at the time. She was still trying to process the whole thing when he dried his hands in her black towel and crossed her to reach the living room. A kiss left on her forehead on his way. _

_ — Mom, Dad, what is the hotel you guys booked to stay these days? — Ana had followed him from behind, now she was leaning to his side. _

_ — What’s the name of the one I chose, love? — Her mother looked at her father who had a flat look on his face. _

_ — Hotel? — He said as if he didn’t know the word. — I thought we were supposed to stay at Ana’s. _

_ Ana’s and her mother’s expression fell in no time, how could he? _

_ — We’re not in Japan, love. — The last word came out completely different from the previous time she had said it. — I’m sure we won’t be able to be in that hotel I had asked you for. _

_ — I’m sure it’s not like the hotel you wanted to stay at. — Jaebeom was back to scratching the back of his neck and Ana felt from inside herself that she  _ knew _ what he was going to suggest. — You could stay at my place. _

_ And by the smile in her father’s face, she knew there was no arguing at that. _

  
  


—  __ You guys are  _ so _ over the top sometimes I can’t even put in words. — Ana had been taken to Mark’s place.

Her belongings were all there, the things she had prepared to take to Japan, the things she needed to spend the night out and… That was all. But they had really prepared a sleepover party without her knowledge.

— You guys know there is a lot of work to be done tomorrow, so we should not sleep too late, my flight is early as well. — She kept talking only to be ignored.

She was in the large living room with only Youngjae with her. Jaebeom and Jackson were in the kitchen making something for them to eat “find something to do somewhere else, babe” She heard as her boyfriend started pushing her away. Jinyoung and Bambam had gone out to buy something they said were crucial for what they were planning to do “You’ll soon find out, Ana-ya, if you have some kind of complaint you should direct it to Jaebeom-hyung.” Mark and Yugyeom hadn’t even set foot in the house.

And yes, the house was indeed Mark’s.

When the younger arrived with the older, everything went down very fastly. In no time Bambam got there, with Jinyoung following suit, Jaebeom and Jackson joined the rest in the living room with the food and a yell from the Chinese.

— Youngjae-ah, why aren’t you properly clothed yet?

She was silent while Mark put a phone to start recording and Youngjae ran through the house for mysterious reasons.

— Ana, babe, you should participate with us from the other side, the marketing team says it will make it more dynamic.

And just like that, she realised they were all wearing clothes that matched somehow. If she wasn’t wrong that had to be option five variation two for the Dream era in a casual situation. The outfit series. They were doing another surprise vlive.

  
  


_ ~ day ninety-four~ _

_ They all decided to have Ana sleeping at Jaebeom’s as well. At least that what she thought, to the others it was pretty clear that Ana decided to join them. They were arriving at the house in no time. _

_ Jaebeom felt like her parents hadn’t reacted all that much from seeing his house. Sometimes it did get lost to him that Ana herself had her mansion in Japan and maybe even in Brazil. _

_ Jaebeom was carrying the things he had taken to Ana’s apartment, so she was the one to type the door code, to get her parents pairs of slippers and pat the cats. All the five of them.  _

_ Ana didn’t get close to his pets at first, but she had grown closer to them as time went by. The tiniest was the older and the bigger the younger, and she found that funny, “Just like Mark and Gyeom, right?” She giggled when he told her that fact. The black one was the fluffiest and also the neediest pet she had ever met in life, one day he got up from bed to find her looking for food in his kitchen counters with it being held by one of her hands “Your siblings want food, they’re not like you who can feed on being carried around, dear.” _

_ She once apologised for speaking Japanese to them, but Korean was still out of question for her. He guessed Bambam had told her about how he spoke to  _ his  _ cats. _

_ Somehow it felt like they approved her just like he did, and everyone who had got to know her by then. _

_ — Jaebeom-ah! I keep telling you she’ll get spoiled if you keep up with this. — She came to the room holding the black one.  _

_ — You know  _ you _ are the one holding her right now, right? _

_ — I am because I’m too tired to put up with her shit if I don’t, I think the guest room is ready, not much to do there, could you take their luggage? _

_ He patted the cat’s head and planted a kiss on her head before pulling her parents' things with him to the second floor. _

_ — Leave her behind and go to sleep, she’ll never leave you if you keep giving her all she wants. _

_ Ana made a face and said goodnight to her parents. She would meet Jaebeom in bed later. _

  
  


_ After setting Ana’s parents in the guest room Jaebeom went to the kitchen to get water before heading to bed. He was mortified when her father of all people appeared there out of nowhere. _

_ He bowed lightly. _

_ — I’m sorry for startling you, Jaebeom-ssi, it wasn’t my intention. — The man’s Korean was great. _

_ — It's not a problem. — He said, willing his senses to calm the hell down. — Do you need anything? _

_ — Not really, just wanted to check if it’s really okay for us to be here tonight. — The older man said that but Jaebeom was sure there was more to it. _

_ — No worries, there should be some use of these abandoned rooms after all. _

_ Jaebeom has filled another cup with water even if he hadn’t accepted, it made him a little restless to be with Ana’s father in the middle of the night after just meeting him; by accident. _

_ — You want me to go straight to the point, don’t you? — He laughed making Jaebeom conscious of how obvious he might have been. The idol leader only nodded. — You and Ana… Is it serious for you? _

_ And Jaebeom should’ve seen this coming. If it was his daughter he would be even less subtle. _

_ — Ye-yes, sir!  _

_ — I like your certainty, Jaebeom-ssi. You do know even though Ana is younger than you she’s pretty independent and everything, right? — That had been the first time he had heard something like that regarding a relationship, Korean parents wanted reliable and dependable boyfriends to their daughters. — Of course, if we don’t count Rika-chan, Ana would be a mess without her, but she would try nonetheless. _

_ He smiled softly at that, even Ana confessed needing Rika more than she should, he was still to meet the woman in person. _

_ — You should also know that she’s not overworking because of you. — Jaebeom eyes shot up to the man’s face at that. — It’s not you, it’s the work, she’s addicted to it, the last guy had the audacity of telling her to work less if she was doing it for him. — It was the first time he saw her father snicker, but that didn’t seem to go too deeply into him. — Oh, you do know she had a relationship with an idol before you, don’t you? — It sounded like a plea. _

_ — I do, sir. — The talk was going more smoothly than he was expecting. — It’s very clear to me that Ana is committed to her work, I’m in no position to stand between them and I know that. _

_ But unexpectedly her father giggled at that, it sounded like hers. _

_ — I understand why you think like this, Ana has a hard time expressing herself straightforwardly. But you should know she’s surprisingly fond of you if I may say. _

_ — I’m sorry sir, I don’t get what you’re getting to. _

_ — First of all, Ana is a territorialist. She’s not fond of spending time in other people’s space. — He made a gesture pointing to the place they were in,  _ Jaebeom’s house _. — Even more in a country she’s not completely familiar with.  _

_ Jaebeom thought he knew about that, but the way her father was putting it sounded like he just didn’t grasp the extension it reached. Maybe Ana was indeed opening herself to him in ways he still couldn’t identify properly.  _

_ — But that’s not the biggest thing I realised. — With a lingering smile tugging the corner of his mouth Ana’s father downed the rest of the content of his cup, he was already at the first step of the stairs when he turned his face to Jaebeom to say. — Ana loathes cats. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again on the right day, I'm low key proud of myself for that. Hope you like the way our story is going here, Is it going the way you thought it would?  
> You can always find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb, see you next week!!


	17. Day one hundred and fifteen

Stepping down from the plane Ana had taken from China to Korea had her in the most rested way she had been in a long time. After making sure to set her Brazilian friend Rina to be the head of the Japanese studio Ana had to head to China to work in person on WayV's process of their comeback. 

Got7 didn't like to learn about that from a video call, yet, Jaebeom silenced them in no time, she could feel his worry for the studio's deals frequently, she had personally told him how their Chinese franchise meant a lot to keep the SM contract. He was dealing better than her everyday callers Mark and Youngjae who seemed to think she would go back to them by sheer force of insistence.

She was able to work on their outfits from far away because of the late adjustments she had made with Mizuki. Everything felt great. Maybe it was the best time she had since the whole Bambam ordeal. She avoided thinking about that.

Her phone rang with Jaebeom's special tune making her fumble with her things. Reporters were waiting for her outside of the airport again.

— Great timing with your call. — She was careful enough not to say his name.

— Why? I thought you'd be in the car by now already, did your flight get delayed?

She giggled before telling him, usually, she'd be maddened about the things that happened, except she was surprisingly well.

— I lost it, I landed a couple of minutes ago.

— Did you lose your flight? How? — She learned then that the group was together. They had been finishing the work in the studio while she spent weeks working away.

— Do you want to drag my reputation from me? — She had a loose smile that was worthless fighting against. — I slept too much, had to be taken to the airport by one of the guys. — She passed people who were waving in her direction, putting the deal in her imagination’s account. — I actually have greetings to deliver when I arrive there, can you call a car from my place to JYPE? I think I'll be able to get there in time.

— Text me when and I'll do so. — She heard a shift in the sound and could swear he had stopped the speaker. — Have a surprise for you today after work.

She hid her face inside her too light coat, the blush heating her cold face.

  
  


— You should've worn something thicker, it's spring, however, it's not Brazilian spring. 

Jaebeom had gone to the parking lot to wait for Ana, who had told him they were on for his surprise after work since she was more well-rested than she had been in a long time. He did not believe her when they finally met again, she looked like she was getting sick.

— The weather was nicer in China, I don't understand how this shit can change so drastically like this. — She reached for something in her bag. A mask. 

— Why's that? You don't look bad, I just think you're not that well-rested.

The way Ana eyed him he knew she knew.

— When I left China Winwin had the flu, I'm afraid I've caught something, who knows?

That explained why she was maintaining some distance between them and made him feel at ease, although not completely.

— Make sure to stop working if you start having symptoms of any kind, okay? I'll take you home if necessary.

She held his hand inside of hers, eyes smiling above the mask.

— There'll be no need for something like that, I'll probably be fine by the time we leave.

They parted ways after leaving the elevator, he would be stuck in the studio all day long, and she had to supervise the work that had been done while she was out.

  
  


_ ~ day ninety-four ~ _

_ Ana had found a way to free her day from the schedule she had, what meant she would've packed days ahead of her. Nevertheless, it was worth it since it meant she would be able to spend time with her parents. _

_ — I think your father spoke to your guy yesterday. — She was sipping some drink through a straw when she said that, and Ana felt like pretending she didn't understand, only that technique didn't work on her parents. Never. _

_ — He didn't comment when he left for his activities today, why'd you suppose that? — The honest approach was always the best with them. _

_ — You feel different about him in comparison to Johnny, don't you? _

_ The comment made Ana roll her eyes. — You know I'm not someone who's into comparing, mom. _

_ — I'm just putting it out here, — she held her hands up in defence. — Rika-chan did tell me you avoided him after the scandal thing with that boy Bambam. — The mention made Ana lower her sunglasses to her face, it wasn't sunny, however, she wanted to hide. _

_ — What else? _

_ — You guys spend time apart when you go to Japan right? — She could feel her digging, and it wasn't that she wanted to exactly hide her relationship from them, yet the approach was making her feel cornered. _

_ — Yes, and here too. — She meant Korea. — Sometimes our schedules don't match and we go days apart. — She sighed. — I guess that's how relationships go these days, right? _

_ — Oh, and you are a modern now? — Her mother's giggle made Ana smile, even though that could sound like depreciation. — You used to get bored after two days apart from Johnny, remember?  _

_ The comment made Ana reflect. It was true, being far from Johnny didn't make her miss him, it made her indifferent for lack of better word. She could make a list of qualities regarding her last boyfriend, and from those make put up an argument about each one she valued the most, despite that she couldn't change one thing. Jaebeom made her feel different from what it was with Johnny. Different, better. _

_ — I miss him when we're apart. — That made her mother choke and have a fit of coughing. — That hard to believe? _

_ She said so despite knowing she couldn't blame the choking woman; one light hit on her back to make sure she was back to breathing normally; Johnny wasn't the only one who didn't ring Ana's bell, she had dated and been given offers of relationship from more than decent guys. Great ones even. She just wasn't interested enough to bother. _

_ — Is he the one, then? _

_ Before giving her mother her mind Ana sighed and adjusted her glasses. — Too soon, mother, too soon. _

  
  


Ana's predictions had been shit. She was skipping lunch when the thought downed in her mind and she felt reassured that whatever Winwin had, she acquired the thing as well.

She wasn't going to complain, though, the day had been a blast since she set foot in the first room with outfits she had to check. She was completely aware of things for the first three sets of outfits, but by the time she ended “Remember you” and “Come on” she was feeling like shit. 

— Do you still have a lot to show, Mizuki-chan? — Ana had changed her mask already, too afraid to infect someone, she had been coughing as well.

— Everything you ordered is ready, so there's still the extra options for you to check, and the casual options still have to be designed.

She revised her notes in confusion. — What about "Everyday"?

— It's been ready since the day before you left for Japan, Ana-san.

And that to be enough to mean she wasn’t okay.

That's why when their little styling team went out for lunch she went separate ways, their staff had been cut in almost half. Her plan was simple and seemed to be impossible to go wrongly: she would find a free room where she would end the casual designs, being alone would mean she wouldn't infect anyone and also work without anyone bugging her about how shitty she looked. She knew how she looked because that was exactly how she felt.

She answered Jaebeom's message and started sketching, at some point in the work she lost track of time and the next thing she knew, her phone was ringing too loudly for her taste. She was late for a meeting. She rapidly put on a mask and went out to look for the room, the new designs in hand.

— We are ahead of time. — Ana heard that, but couldn't believe it was real, being ahead of their always tight schedule was almost impossible. — Let's give a round of applause for Ms Ana's organisation.

It felt like her head was about to explode when the noise burst.

— You guys, I came up with some options for the casual outfits. — She said slowly, just like her brain was working, and it took a while for her to realise that they were staring at her.

— Ana-san. — Mizuki placed her hand over Ana's forehead, it felt cold. — Do you have a fever?

The fact that Ana wanted to answer her by exclaiming something like "You are the one feeling my forehead." Was another indication of how unwell she was. 

— It must be— 

— I'll take her to the infirmary while you take a look at the designs, okay?

And it wasn't open to discussion, because Ana was about to protest when Mizuki took a hold of her hand and dragged her away.

  
  


_ ~ day ninety-four ~ _

_ — You guys, I need your opinion on this matter. — They were scattered around the room waiting for their manager, it was lunchtime. _

_ — Did Ana get a day off? Are you missing her? — Youngjae sat by his side, the others still gathering. _

_ — I went to her apartment yesterday to make food, she left too late. _

_ They made a fuss, Jackson shouting he would test the technique in Ella's next visit. _

_ — You guys, focus! — He used the leader voice, getting minimal control of the situation.— But I had a surprise after arriving there. _

_ — Did she cheat? She didn't cheat, right? I have given her my trust, she wouldn't dare to do that, right? _

_ Mark had to hold Bambam back, physically so. _

_ — Calm down Bammie, it's his girlfriend, remember? — Jackson patted the Thai on the shoulder, Mark, the angel he was, wasn’t so sensitive and slapped his back. _

_ — How can you think like that about her? — At the other side of the room, Youngjae pouted. _

_ — Can I please have the word? — The leader was impatient. — Her parents were there when I arrived. — The information made Bambam get a new slap on his back from Mark, Jaebeom held Youngjae’s t-shirt to make sure he wouldn’t reach the Thai. _

_ — Oh, did they get excited to know she’s dating you? — Jackson had a bright smile on his face.  _

_ Jaebeom knitted his eyebrows together, he only wanted their opinion about the cat thing, but they would ask for the rest of the story later so he thought that this kind of approach would be the best. He was not so sure anymore. _

_ — Will you guys let Jaebeom-hyung end? — Jinyoung was not that interested in the ordeal the other members were causing. _

_ — Thank you, Jinyoung, as I was saying everyone ended up going to my place since her parents had forgotten to book a hotel. — He held both of his hands up before continuing. — Let me finish, you can bug me about that later. — Because he could observe excitement forming between his members. — When I was drinking my water before going to sleep her father came to me. We talked. _

_ Yugyeom’s hand was shot up making Jaebeom feel like a high school teacher. They did that all the time when Ana was asking for discipline. He made a gesture so the maknae could speak. _

_ — Oh, there’s nothing, you’re taking too long I’m getting anxious. _

_ The leader rolled his eyes before continuing, a habit taken from Ana. — He told me not to think she was overworking because of our relationship, it seems to be something she just does. Then… I’ll simply jump to this: he said Ana doesn’t like cats. As if she detested them, you know? _

_ For some time he just got their staring gazes, as if he had said some kind of absurd thing no one would agree with. _

_ — Is it all just because of that? — Bambam had his shoulders hunched and a look of disbelief. — Have you ever spotted Ana holding one of my cats when we are at mine? She once squeaked when King walked around her. _

_ — She has been reacting better to them lately, though. — Yugyeom added, still trying to understand what that meant to their leader. _

_ — And she adores Milo! — Mark smiled greedily. — I guess she’s fond of Coco as well, isn’t she, Youngjae? _

_ — She so is! — They joined in a group laugh. _

_ Jaebeom was still trying to put the pieces together, although they wouldn’t fit. _

_ — But she… — He made a face, brain working on full force. _

_ — Spill it out, Jaebeom-ah! _

_ — Ana likes my cats, she never said anything about them, in the beginning she would maintain some distance, but she’s close to them now. — He got up from his seat. — She went to my house a couple of times to feed them when I had schedules away, she even takes pictures of her with them and sends me sporadically. _

_ Before anyone could answer him their manager entered the room calling them for the afternoon activities. However, before he could follow, Jinyoung smiled and crossed his friend’s path on his way to the door, lingering around just enough to whisper what he wanted. _

_ — I guess you’ve found the one Leader-nim. _

  
  


— Bambam-ssi, could you please focus a little, this is the last song, let’s go home earlier today, okay? 

Their producer said through the microphone making Jaebeom glare at their youngest, the others had gone to the dance practice with their trainer, and Jaebeom should be there with them, but they were working on his song so he should be there to supervise the recording sessions. It didn’t stop him from fuming.

— Let’s take five so we can refresh, okay? — The producer left the room in no time with his phone in hands.

— I’m sorry, hyung. — Bambam’s voice was low, Jaebeom felt bad for his harsh tone earlier.

— It’s okay, take a break and chill, we have time. 

Except for the fact that they didn’t have. He knew some departments were ahead of their schedule, but the studio phase should’ve been done a while now. He had been worrying that maybe they wouldn’t be able to have everything until the release date.

He revised everyone’s recordings and made some notes, he had doubts about the changes he had done in the song, it had been so long since he first wrote that one. He wanted to show it to Ana and ask for her opinion, however, Bambam and their producer arrived before Jaebeom could miss them, and were back to work in no time. He put his head back on the current situation.

  
  


_ ~ day one hundred and eleven~ _

_ Ana could barely see a thing at the other side of the video call, she made sure once again that her microphone wasn’t on and kept looking intently at the screen of her phone. She shouldn't be doing that at the time, but she had Naoki covering for her, so she was hoping she wouldn’t get scolded by Rika. _

_ When the lights at the other side burst making her eyes sting with the intensity she started singing the song of the day. Happy birthday to Bambam. In Korean. _

_ Jaebeom had personally taught her the whole thing and she was fairly proud of herself. _

_ — Ana, dear, your microphone is off! — Bambam’s face was occupying most of her phone’s screen with the largest smile. He was wearing her gift. _

_ — It arrived on time! — She beamed instead of wishing him a happy birthday. She heard Mizuki’s giggle being muffled probably by her own hands. _

_ — Yes, I did, and it was worth the wait! — He took some steps from the camera so she could examine it better. It fitted perfectly. _

_ — Will I have to wait all the months until my birthday? — Youngjae complained from behind the camera, Ana could see his pout in her mind even though he wasn’t in her line of sight. _

_ — Ask Jaebeom-hyung, he got gifts before his birthday. — Yugyeom asked from another place she couldn’t spot. The whole group teased the leader and the camera lost its stability. She saw her boyfriend’s face for little moments. _

_ — You guys, please behave! — Even Ana was retraining herself from chuckling, Jaebeom all red. — We can talk gifts when I’m back, okay?  _

_ — So I won’t need to wait too long? — Mark sounded like the youngest he wasn’t. _

_ — Make sure not to celebrate too much before I’m back, hmmm, I’ll have to go before Rika-chan finds me... _

— You guys, something happened. — Bambam invaded the rehearsal room they were using, fortunately, their trainer had gone out for a break. — I just got a message from Mizuki-chan. — Bambam had been having a fling with the junior stylist and everyone had been teasing the hell out of him about that.

— We already know about your thing. Please don’t brag about having your girlfriend around or I’ll let our hyung-line kill you. — Youngjae was laid on the floor.

— It’s serious, hyung! — He could be talking to one of the older ones or all of them didn’t matter.

— Does Jaebeom-hyung know you’re here and not in the studio? It’s the last song. — Yugyeom was giving the others massage sessions.

— Ana-ya is in the infirmary! — He yelled. Half because he was mad no one was giving him attention and half because he didn’t have time to waste.

— WHAT? — They said in unison and got up surprisingly fast.

— What’s wrong with her? — Mark was lingering around the Thai trying to check the messages he had received.

— She says it’s the flu, her fever is high. — He didn’t have much time left, Jaebeom would be crazy if he got to the studio after the producer, he’d have to run all his way back.

— Why’s she even working like that? — It was Jinyoung this time, Bambam found himself in the middle of a circle they formed around him.

— You guys, I don’t have time for that, I came here to tell you about it since Jaebeom-hyung won’t be able to go there now, you know he doesn’t check his phone when working at the studio.

— Bambam is right, and I doubt Ana would text him about it. — Jackson reasoned the situation and everyone agreed with him.

— But we shouldn’t go all together, right? — Yugyeom was the next voice of reason.

— I’ve to go back to the recording session, keep me updated so I can tell JB-hyung the news when we finish, okay?

  
  


Mizuki was glad, yet uneasy, for having decided to take Ana to the infirmary. Firstly because her superior kept mumbling she was okay and needed to go back to the meeting. They were still on their way there when she sent Bambam the message.

By the time Ana had her temperature taken and the nurse told her she should head home Mizuki was sure she was one of the worst patients she had ever crossed paths with.

— Wanatabe-ssi. — The nurse called for her in Korean. — Do you know a way we can convince her to go home? I doubt she’ll be productive in this state.

She snorted at that. The nurse was doubting her, she knew by heart the expression in Ana’s face that would answer her disbelief. — Ana-san delivered fifteen designs just this afternoon. — And she was not ashamed to be bragging about her superior, her Ana-san was the best and she could tell the whole world about that at any given time.

She was fuming at the nurse when two of the boys from the group arrived at the infirmary, the two women had already managed to make Ana take a pill for her fever. She was coughing when they arrived. Mark first and Jinyoung right behind him.

— Wanatabe-ssi, good afternoon, we heard about Ana-ya… — The American was fidgety.

— Ana-san is there, she just fell asleep, but you know how she is, she doesn’t want to go home. — The nurse had finally left them.

— Jaebeom-hyung is at the studio right now, so he won’t be able to come for some time, how can we convince her to go? — The younger member bowed.

— Oh no! Ana-san would be devastated if Jaebeom-ssi was informed about her, she kept asking me not to ring him, but it’s already late and...

— These two… — Jinyoung crossed his arms in front of his torso swinging his from head side to side.

— I know what to do. — Mark put on a mask and strode to Ana, she surely needed sleep, except being there wouldn’t be great for her, he knew she was unable to have proper rest being in JYPE. — Ana-yaaa… — He called in a low voice, hand patting her head trying to wake her up as gently as possible.

— Lucas had a message… — She murmured, eyes fluttering open. She didn’t look all that aware of her surroundings.

— We’ll send the message later, okay? Now we’ve to go home. — For his surprise, she sat up with energy coming from a mysterious place.

— I have to end the designs for the casual outfits— A coughing fit interrupted her, Mark used the opening to cut in.

— Ana-ya, you shouldn’t be here now… — He pressed his eyes shut for a second, if this didn’t work they would have to find a way to call Rika or something, Ana’s stubbornness shining in her haze. — You are contagious, if one of us gets sick now we’ll have a problem with the deadline.

  
  


Bambam was glad they didn’t take long to end the session, his leader was also beaming with the results, they were finally done with the studio phase now they just had to shoot three more MVs. He wanted his bed so bad.

Having checked his phone right after getting the final thumbs up from the producer Bambam huffed a breath he had been keeping for the whole last part of the session, Mark had taken Ana home safely, he had to deliver the news to Jaebeom and pray he would have the best reaction in the world. They met in the corridor outside the studio. He had a bag hanging from his shoulder, glasses pushed up to the top of his head, he recognized the t-shirt as one Ana had made for him.

— Bam-ah, I’m sorry for the impatience today, I was just anxious that the last song was one of mine. — The younger offered a weak smile, gesturing with the phone inside his hands. Jaebeom’s were nowhere he had glanced at.

— Hyung, there’s something— 

— Are you guys done? — Manager Kim of all people called them from the corner of the corridor. — We are going to meet  _ right now _ !

— Did something happen? — It was clear that their manager was not okay, face red and concentrated breathing, clearly trying to push himself away from the edge.

— We have a brand new dating scandal, Mark is on his way back here from God knows where and the others are waiting for us.

Bambam automatically forgot about the whole Ana ordeal, another dating scandal in so little time! — Hyung! — He called the manager with a hurried voice.

— Hyung, did someone find out about Yeeun? Mark shouldn’t go to her if that’s the case.

They stopped in front of the door, the manager was still breathing as if trying to make himself calm. — They have an image of you and Ana, Jaebeom-ah.

Bambam, after almost being left behind stopped in his tracks, how could a person spot someone as careful as Ana? He watched as his leader tried to gather enough resolve to respond.

— Did you call her already? She'll be startled after hearing about it.

— She hadn’t been answering for a while now. — The manager had his phone in hand and was opening the door gesturing to them to get in.

— You probably won’t be able to reach her now, she’s already home… — Jaebeom’s head snapped to him, a hard look in his eyes. — Mark must be coming back from her place, she had to leave because she’s a little down. — He sugarcoated the situation to calm Jaebeom down, but from the look in his face, it wasn’t enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on Tumblr as AkaIjb, sorry for the delay, see ya next week!


	18. Day one hundred and sixteen

_ ~ day one hundred and seven~ _

_ They had a meeting through a video conference. _

_ Ana hated to work like that and there was no hiding how bad her mood was at said meeting, she was all business and went straight to the point they had to cover. _

_ — Our approach this time took a little longer to be prepared so we’ll have to work harder from now on to make it work. We’re doing great at having nothing spoiled and I thank you guys for that, the first MV is perfect, everything’s on point. The news I’ve been receiving about “Skyway” are amazing as well and I suppose we can leave that to the editing team and think about the stages later. I know and trust by the time I arrive in Korea we’ll have most of the songs remastered in the studio, which means our work will be around the making of the other three MVs. I ask for urgency for “Everyday” since it’ll be the second one to be released, as I hope everyone remembers only a week after “I like you”. — She turned to someone who should be behind the camera.  _ —  _ Am I forgetting something?  _ —  _ The answer probably came through gestures since they never heard it.  _ —  _ Then it’s all for today. _

_ The staff left the room after what she had said, the meeting was only for her to clear doubts that some of them were having regarding the things she spoke about. Everyone had sent their questions beforehand as she requested. _

_ She got up energetically from her seat when the members started to make movements to leave the room. _

_ — You guys! — They turned back. — I’m sorry for the harsh approach, how are you doing? — Their demeanour lightened a little at that. _

_ — We’re tired and missing you. — Mark had the audacity of whining, a warm smile lifting her face. _

_ — Will you be back soon? — Youngjae’s turn. _

_ — Oh, the teacher’s pets! — Bambam mocked while getting closer to the camera to wave at Ana. _

_ — Make sure you sleep properly, okay? — The fact that she hadn’t answered the questions rang the bell that she was not there to speak to all of them. They said their goodbyes to her and started making their way out. _

_ — I guess they already know how to read you, hmm? — He sat closer to the camera, taking a better look at her demeanour. — Have  _ you _ been sleeping properly? _

_ — You can be sure she is! — A yell from behind the camera. _

_ — If I dare to avoid my curfew Rika-chan will probably dope me into sleep. — He could hear the giggle from the Japanese girl. _

_ — What put you in such a bad mood? _

_ She closed her eyes at his remark, the bastard knew how to read her better than she expected. — I’ll be heading to China after I prepare things here at the studio. _

_ — Did you find someone for the position already? — The look in his face was one of concern. _

_ — Yes, Rina-chan is a Brazilian friend I’ve worked with already, she’s perfect for the position. _

_ — Will you be alright dividing yourself from there to China? — And he sounded worried as well. _

_ Ana made a gesture asking Rika to give them some privacy whereas promising not to take too long. — You really aren't worried that I may go back to Korea later? _

_ — You're working from there and we from here, I'm just worried you'll work too much like you usually do. _

_ She smiled fondly, Jaebeom's words warming her heart to its wholeness as she rested her chin on her hand. _

_ — I miss you. — A sigh. _

_ — I miss you too. — A smile. _

  
  


Ana always bragged about her amazing health, how she had a great immune system and everything. It had to be the will of the universe trying to disavow her greediness.

Her eyes shot open when her phone rang. Was it time for her to go back to JYPE? She couldn't muse about that, her brain too hazy to make any kind of deep thinking, thoughts too clouded. She did recognise her bedroom although didn't remember how she had arrived there.

She felt a shiver overpass her body, skin hot but a cold feeling nonetheless. She ultimately felt like shit. 

Her phone was vibrating with messages she couldn't focus enough to read, the information on the screen telling her it was a day after her landing in Korea.

The last thing she remembered cloudly was a meeting at night. Yesterday night. The same night she was supposed to get a surprise from Jaebeom, the boyfriend she had been missing for all the time away. He didn’t answer her call and she wasn’t able to do anything else on the phone as brand new coughing fit almost shook her to pieces. It fell to the floor.

After some time feeling like shit Ana realised she didn’t remember getting herself home and mused the possibility of having someone still there. She managed to stumble her way to the living room, Mizuki and Dan’s sleeping bodies there proved her right. She could barely hold herself up for too long when the first nausea wave hit her she limped her way to the bathroom.

— Wanatabe-ssi! — The yell made Ana’s ear pound and her body shiver, although she couldn’t give her shivering to the yell, after all, she was seated on the cold floor of her tiled bathroom. — Where’s she?

— Oh! — The second voice was female and sleepy. — She’s sleeping in the bedroom, Dan-ssi, I took her temperature a couple of hours ago.

— I’m asking because she’s not there! — The voice was closer and completely unintelligible to Ana, they were speaking Korean.

— What? — She heard as socked steps covered the apartment’s perimeter, a gasp when they finally found her. — She’s here, Dan-ssi!

He arrived wielding the thermometer already.

— Shit… — She felt as his hands moved her, a whimper escaping her lips, she felt heavy. — Nana, dear, are you okay?

She willed her eyes to open and ended up using more strength than the action would usually take.

— Yes. — She answered in Korean, even though she wouldn’t remember that later.

— The nurse said we should watch for her breathing sounds, doesn’t it sound weird to you? — The female voice came from somewhere near the door.

— Ana, dear, did you throw up? — She grunted at that, even though she was extremely nauseated she hadn’t gone that far. Fortunately, because she hated throwing up.

— No, but I feel sick. — Another shiver. — And cold. — And a new coughing fit reached her.

_ ~ day one hundred and nine~ _

_ They were seated far away from each other, yet could see themselves through the screen of their video call. Jaebeom was interpreting the dullness of her eyes as homesickness, she had been sounding grumpy lately and he once even received a call from the famous Ito Naoki asking him to give her a call.  _

_ She was seated near the screen squinting at it and analysing the dates for their new plan. The bad news was that they were falling behind on their schedule, but the good news was that they hadn't released dates to the public nor published the fact that they had an ongoing project. _

_ — This is great. — She said in a serious tone. — I agree that delaying it by a week will make sure we deliver it wonderfully. _

_ — I'm happy that you agree, Ms Ana. — One of the higher-ups. — Do you think that the delay will be a problem for the next one? _

_ — Not really, I'm hoping for great aftermath from this project here, we can rethink the rest of the year after we get the real results. — A sigh, although she didn't look all that tired, from the pieces of information he had been getting Rika was indeed very strict with Ana's sleep schedule. — But the fact that now we have three MVs to go is already great, everything is moving smoothly. _

_ She had her three phones aligned on the table in front of her, the one she used in Korea rang with more messages from an unknown number, she was yet to ask someone to check those for her, it felt too much for spam messages, yet, she didn't read Korean so she couldn't judge. _

_ The studio’s phone rang right after with Rika's name shining on the screen. _

_ — It's time already, Ms Ana, you should go. — She smiled her goodbyes to everyone and waved an apologetic hand to the group, she had business to attend in China. _

  
  


When Mark arrived back at JYPE it was already May and he had all his social media profiles yelling with notifications about the most recent scandal. If he was the same hot-headed young guy he once was he would be all over the place, but not now, the present Mark was only pacing around the elevator while it took all the time in the world to reach the floor his members were at.

He barged into the room loudly, as if the urgency of getting there as fast as possible would make things better.

— How is she? — Jaebeom was the first to get up, crossing the room to reach the American.

— I left her at home, Wanatabe-ssi was going to stay with her until Dan-ssi arrived, she’s being taken care of. — For the first time in a very long time, Mark felt like acting the older one he was, the faces of the other teammates weren’t any better.

He had to drag Jaebeom back to his seat, tossing his phone on the big pile at the centre of the table. 

— Hyung. — Bambam called the manager Park. — Do you have Mizuki or Dan’s phone number? Since we shouldn’t use ours?

— Can’t we head home? We need rest and the media probably won’t be at our door in a time like this. — Yugyeom covered his face with the palm of his hands, no one would blame him, all very tired.

— We should decide what we’ll tell the public as fast as possible, fortunately, the backlash isn’t in full force because the Korean ones must be asleep, but tomorrow we’ll have a lot to work on.

They all sighed, Jaebeom had his head hanging low. They all knew the drill of the day after, having gone through that not too long ago. The marketing team would show up, showing a bunch of options and shit he didn’t want to know about, his mind all too stuck in Ana.

Youngjae’s phone was the one with sound, and when it rang he apologised fastly and too many times.

— You guys. — He called after retrieving the phone from the bottom of the pile. — It’s Rika-ssi.

Jaebeom gasped and got up to answer the phone. — She won’t stop until one of us answers, Ana must be sleeping, right? She’s probably worried. — He did it out of politeness because if necessary he would just answer, knowing Youngjae wouldn’t deny him.

When the manager Jeong nodded he answered, manager Park and Kim were busy with their own calls. It was the first time he heard Rika speak Korean.

— Youngjae-ssi, are you possibly with Ana? It’s been hours since I last reached her. — Her voice was hurried and more anxious than he had ever heard.

— Rika-ssi, It’s Jaebeom here. — He spoke carefully, she most certainly didn’t know how Ana was.

— Jaebeom-ssi! — It sounded like she was hit by a wave of easement. — I’m so sorry about what happened if you let me talk to Ana I’ll probably be able to calm her down, I know she must be out of her mind even if her face isn’t recognisable.

— Ana’s at home with Dan-ssi. — He turned away from the group, shoulders hunched over with the weight of the world over it.

— Oh, then should I call him? Or is she okay about it? — Her voice was calmer and by the whispers he heard from her side it seemed like she was comforting Naoki.

— Rika-san. — He sighed in Japanese. — Ana doesn't know yet.

— Oh!? But she's home? — She sounded somehow worried, the male voice coming from afar should be Naoki's. — Did something else happen?

— She has been sent home, they said she has the flu.

— Ana has the flu? — Rika was back to the despair mode. — She never gets sick though.

— She said Sicheng had something when she met them in China. 

He never got to know if she heard his last phrase since the line went mute. He was putting the phone back to the pile when someone he knew all too well knocked on the door, it was the tech guy who had checked their phone back in Thailand.

— I came as fast as I could. They told me you should spend the night around, your neighbourhoods are all packed with reporters.

  
  


_ ~ day one hundred and twelve~ _

_ — Before I say anything I want to remind you guys this is your year and you are all that free, okay? — Ana was now in China, a different conference room that they interpreted as SM's, there wasn't enough time for them to ask. _

_ — Please just say what it is, Ana-yaaa. — Yugyeom whined whereas having a smile gracing his lips. _

_ — We came up with a couple of suggestions for you guys to change your hairstyles. — They were silent and she didn't know what that meant. — Did I steal your abilities to talk? _

_ — Jaebeom-hyung would kill us if we kept interrupting you. — Bambam's boldness could only be like that because they were in extreme opposite positions. _

_ — I'll start with Jackson, hmm. — She fumbled with papers, they still didn't know why she preferred like that, using her always present tablet would be way easier. — We think you would look great with that caramel colour... _

_ — Like back in Lullaby? — Mark had a pensive tone. _

_ — Doesn't matter, I'll look great anyway.  _

_ — Bambam we trust you to come up with something different and refreshing. — The Thai had a smug smile while humming in satisfaction. _

_ — Youngjae this is a personal request. — The group whistled and yelled at that, she huffed in urgency. — We don't have all the time in the world, you guys! Yugyeom, we'd like for you to try pitch black, would give a great contrast with your skin.  _

_ — Ana-yaaa, you forgot about mine!! _

_ — Oh, I'm kind of trying to leave the hardest ones to the end. — She smiled avoiding their eyes. — How can I. — A sudden noise from her side made her look low key angry. — XUXI! _

_ As she disappeared from the camera they waited in silence. They heard more people talking with an exasperated Ana, mixing English and poor Chinese.  _

_ — Hello! — It was Ten speaking Korean, however, when he recognised Bambam they started to speak Thai. _

_ — Oh my God, Ten! Aren't you the worst of them all? — It was her again, the next one to appear on the screen was Lucas. — Xuxi, please! _

_ — JB-ssi, Ana is open for any change you may want to do with your hair, even going bald. _

_ And then she was back.  _

_ — I thought I had ten more minutes, but it's time to go already. — She was blushing from the back of her ears to the cheeks. _

_ — Please tell them the rest Ana-Jie. — She huffed as Lucas' voice reached Korea. — Would it be okay if we stay for that? — He asked in Korean. _

_ — Ana-ya, please hurry or we'll die of curiosity. _

_ — Oh, so you speak Japanese with them? — Sicheng's voice came from behind the camera, the room was full. _

_ — Please let me calm down here, my brain is about to burst. Can I end this? — They gave her the silence she wanted so much after the voice raise. — Youngjae-kun we came up with a Never ever revival, please sleep on that before answering! Jaebeom, we couldn't choose between three options you can already check on your phone, Mark dear! — She changed to English fastly. — You know I love to Look at you. _

_ — Oh, she did it!! — Hendery yelled from somewhere behind the camera, Ana smiled as well, the Thai and the Chinese by her side praising her with pats.  _

_ — We'll have to remove her right away, we are giving her back to you in three days.  _

_ — Wait! — The Korean side burst, it was Jinyoung. — What about me? _

_ — Ok, Jinyoung-kun, they'll be satisfied with any change you come up with considering that  _ you do change _ at least! _

  
  


— Dan-ssi, I don’t know if I’ll be able to reach them, you do know I’m just a junior stylist. — He didn’t want to agree with Mizuki, yet there was no denying: she would never be able to reach the group considering how crazy the administration staff usually got in situations like that.

He took a breath trying to align his thoughts, it was not something easy to do in that kind of situation. Rika had called in the middle of the night with so much despair he was ready to find her knocking on Ana’s door at any given time, he was too worried by the fact that the indestructible Ana had fallen sick in such a short period. His screen was indicating one hour of phone call when she finally subsided and prepared to call Ana’s parents. He  _ did _ leave out the fact that she had also been burning up with fever all night long that wouldn’t stop with the prescribed medication.

Which was the reason why he reasoned taking her to the hospital in the morning. Completely against his Brazilian side. If he was Korean Ana would be there way sooner.

— Did you come by car? I guess the only option we have here is you taking her to the hospital while I find the boys at JYPE. — Because none of them was answering his calls and no one seemed to have or want to give their manager’s number.

— No, Mark-ssi brought us here, my car is there.

He cursed in Portuguese at that, the day was being the epitome of a nightmare.

Back in her bedroom, Ana was still too hot for his liking and also shaking. She had woken up repeatedly at night in such a haze he was certain she would never remember her sayings.

— Our only options will be me taking you two to the hospital and heading to JYPE, let’s pray it’ll work out. — And even though he was not so much of a praying person he did exactly what he had said. Extreme situations, extreme approach.

  
  


It wasn’t the first time that happened, they should be more used to that, even so, it had been so long since they had spent the night in the building it felt weird. They scattered around the places they could do something or simply rest: the two youngest decided to sleep, their eyes heavy with lack of sleep accumulated over it; Mark decided to head to one of their training rooms with Jackson, they went for a round of martial jumps; Youngjae, Jinyoung and Jaebeom headed back to the studio to revise their recordings.

It worked out for most of them.

Youngjae tried to make his recordings better, finding imperceptible flaws here and there. Jinyoung revised “Thank you” and made notes about what they could change in their upcoming promotions of the song, it was the first time one of his was going to have that much attention to it. Jaebeom tried and failed on his quest to mimic the two others, he ended up leaving the studio and looking for a place to sleep.

it was around seven in the morning when he let the weight of his body crash against the floor. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all, so he tried dancing in a private room. It was shitty and didn’t take his mind away from the matters at hand. One: Ana was sick at home and he couldn’t reach her for the sake of his sanity. Two: there were pictures of them around the internet from the day they walked around the town in the middle of the night.

It was an all arounder nightmare.

— We can’t decide anything now. — He said in a final tone when their managers started giving them options. — We have to wait for her.

— I’m sorry Jaebeom-ah, but this doesn’t regard only the two of you, you guys are a group here, don’t forget about your teammates. — The comment made manager Kim get a glare from the leader, there was no way he was saying he wasn’t considerate of his members.

— Jaebeom-hyung is right, hyung. — Bambam got eyes on him for his response, blocking Jaebeom’s line of thought. — The other person in the picture is Ana, and she should be a part of this decision.

He was thankful for that, however, the words wouldn’t come out, a lump blocking around the region of his throat.

— If we just deny everything there will be smooth sailing.

— No way! — Half of them argued as the other half glared in indignation.

— We are not lying to our fans like that. — Jinyoung sounded absentminded.

— And Ana-ya doesn’t like lying. — Youngjae was very serious.

— How do you want to proceed then? — Manager Jeong couldn’t do a lot since their freedom was an official thing signed in the contract at the beginning of the year. 

— Let’s rest and decide on a godly hour when Ana arrives. — Jackson having experience with his dating scandals warmed Jaebeom's insides with a calm assurance.

But now it was seven in the morning and the sweat dripping from his forehead to the floor was starting to form a pool, after a knock on the door, he sat up in no time.

— Thank God for that, my prayers are being answered! — Dan entered the room trying his best to be silent, he had had a hard time finding the idol and didn’t want to risk being caught in the building on his day off.

— Dan-ssi! Do you have news? — He hadn’t heard anything about Ana besides the things Mark had said at his arrival.

— That I do. — He pointed his hand at the still seated Jaebeom, a phone in it. — I got it back for you, they ended the revision thingy already.

— Oh, thank you! — He was fast at looking for messages or something, shoulders falling after seeing there were only things from Rika, Naoki, Dan and her parents. And one missed call from  _ her.  _ — Did you tell her parents already? They called me. — They had exchanged numbers on their visit.

— Rika told them, they most certainly called because they were worried about you. — Dan sat facing the other one, preparing the mood for Ana’s news. — Ana once told me they worried about Bambam after his scandal and called her. 

— They didn’t even know him…

— Yeah, they’re  _ that _ cool.

— What about Ana, does she know about it already? Did she not come because we’re supposed to stay apart? — He looked cool and relaxed beside the sweat from exercising. Dan knew it wasn’t that simple.

— She doesn’t know about it yet… — He was yet to muster how to tell him about it, but instead of interrupting him, Jaebeom knitted his eyebrows together trying to make the stylist say the rest. — I came from the hospital, I left her there with Wanatabe-ssi.

  
  


The doctor scolded Mizuki for not taking Ana to the hospital earlier, she was so nervous, hands shaking against her will, that she couldn’t even say she had told Dan that earlier. She sat restlessly in the waiting room when her phone rang with the reminder of calling Dan for an update. It was fast since his number had been put on her speed dial.

— You are out of this world punctual. — He answered in a hushed tone. — Do you have any kind of update?

— They say we should’ve brought her earlier as I said.

— Wanatabe-ssi, if Ana was on her senses she wouldn't dare to let us take her there, so count it as a victory. 

— They don’t want me to stay there with her, she’s not okay. — He grunted at that, he was waiting for better news. — Did you tell them about her already?

— Oh, I just did and it was a whole ordeal to make sure Jaebeom wouldn’t run to her. — There was a pause with muffled sounds. — If he hears that I’m in contact with you we’ll be back to that.

— I don’t know what else to say, when are you coming back? — She was anxious, their project all forgotten.

— As soon as possible, since I’m one of her emergency contacts I may be able to stay with her.

— That would put me at— 

She was interrupted by new muffled sounds, and then Jaebeom’s voice.

— Wanatabe-ssi? — He sounded more anxious than her, and breathless as well. — You’re with her, right?

— JB-ssi, hi. — A pause for her to get up and start pacing. Ana was indeed infecting everyone with her behaviour. She breathed in before doing something a little risky. — Ana-san is being treated, she can’t receive visits and our best for  _ her _ right now is that  _ you stay there. _

— What have you done? — Dan’s voice was back. — He gave the phone back to me… How?

— The doctor is coming, Dan-ssi, I’ll keep you updated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again, but I guess at this point this is more normal than coming right at our scheduled Tuesday. I'm thinking about adding a tag for whump, but I'm not sure if this qualifies as that. Thank you for coming until now and get ready for more and more emotion. You can always find me on Tumblr as AkaIjb! See ya next week!


	19. Day one hundred and seventeen

Everything around her felt too hot and cold at the same time when the car stopped. She didn’t quite remember where they were going to nor why she felt so bad.

— Jaebeom-ah, are we home already?

— Nana, nana? — She felt as someone took her by the hands, she felt as her body was somehow lifted and she was suddenly up, her eyelids too heavy to be opened.

It couldn’t be Jaebeom since he never called her that way, none of the boys ever did.

— Daniel. — Somehow Ana spoke firmly.

— Great, even on your deathbed you don’t stop yourself from teasing me. — Because he hated being called by his full name. However, she knew she wasn’t about to die, because if she was Dan wouldn’t be that calm. — Please open your eyes, Nana, love.

— I want to head home. — She felt herself lean on his car, it felt like a car at least.

— Will I have to call Mr Kim to help me take you up? — Her senses lit up in a minimum way that was enough to open her eyes up. — Great! I knew you were going to respond to that.

— Where are we? — She prodded looking around. — Can’t we have Jaebeom help us up instead?

Her friend laughed at that except for some reason, it fell flat. 

— Your Jaebeom is up there, we’ll meet him. — It felt like she was being talked to like a child, still, she couldn’t muster the strength to complain.

— Is your breathing all right? — They had finally entered the elevator, the question made her remember the day before, the feeling of needing more air than she was able to take from around herself. 

— Did we come from the hospital? — She didn’t quite trust her brain’s judgment, her temperature and the cloudiness of her thoughts too misleading.

— Great, you are finally up! — He breathed out and smiled excitedly. — When this door opens we are heading to a room that I hope will be with only you and Jaebeom, the guys are trying to set this up, they are trying to use the freedom card in their favour but it’s hard, oh, we are here.

— Dan-ah you’re not making much sense, what are we doing here after fleeing the hospital?

They were standing in front of the door, only a door for Ana, who felt a drop of sweat coming down from her forehead. Her feelings getting a little more accurate, it made the whole floor around her turn in a dangerous fashion. It felt like she was going to lose her balance.

— Pay attention, Dan-ssi! — Was it Mark’s hand that had been placed at her back giving some sort of support for her weak standing position.

— Did you guys get— 

— We got nothing, — The two of them were almost shoved inside. — Did you read the last article about her? Jaebeom almost fled to the hospital.

The mention of Jaebeom and a “her” made Ana look up from her seat.

— Her who? — She was on her way to take off the heavy jacket.

— No way you are taking that off, you have to sweat it off. 

She whined.

— Didn’t you tell her about the whole thing?

— Mark, didn’t you get from her looks how aware of things she is? It was a pain to get the doctors to let her go.

— Isn’t that risky? — He crouched by her side, whose head was pressed against the table.

— Someone leaked that she was at the hospital, and if she got some sort of media harassment there it would be the worst-case scenario.

— So you did see the article about her?

Dan was close to the door, ear pressed against it making him feel like a five-year-old. — Everyone saw it. — He rolled his eyes until he got a glimpse of Ana's second attempt to free herself from the heavy coat. — Please don't let her take off the coat, last time I checked she was still running a fever.

— You dyed your hair! — Ana smiled behind the mask as Mark cupped her face.

— Yes, didn't you see it yesterday? — They were being careful not to show their new colours around places they could be caught on camera, however, it was usually safer inside the building. 

— I told you'd look great! — She hummed with a serious pout, at least he thought it was a pout since she had her lower face covered.

— She sounds weird, is everything okay? — She felt hot under his touch.

— It's the medicine they gave her a couple of hours ago, but I guess it'll wear off in no time.

— I guess it would be ideal for her to be aware when Jaebeom breaks the news to her.

_ ~ day one hundred sixteen~ _

_ It wasn't pneumonia. _

_ That was the first bit of good news they got in the whole mishmash they were currently living. Dan was heading there when the news broke and he heard it through Mizuki. "Please call JB-ssi and tell him that, it'll soothe a little of his despair. _

_ And she did, except instead of being eased, he wanted to speak to Ana or see her since she was asleep. "Please, Wanatabe-san! Make a video call!" Yet, she only had the news, they wouldn't let her be with Ana since she was not a relative nor her emergency contact. She had to call Rika as well, who reacted surprisingly better than her Jaebeom. _

_ She was silently seated at the same chair in the waiting room when Dan arrived. It was around lunchtime. _

_ — Wanatabe-ssi! — He almost hugged her besides all the social weirdness it would cause. — You should go for lunch, as soon as I hear something new I'll ring you, okay? _

_ She smiled sheepishly and nodded in agreement, glad that she wouldn't have to ask, Ana's condition worrying her as well. _

_ — Do you want me to bring something for you to eat? I don't know what you like. _

_ He patted her head affectionately, a smile being born in his face. — No need, they gave me something at JYPE. Don't you have activities today? _

_ — Not really, our discussions are dependable on Ana-san's presence, so our whole team was put on hold for the time being.  _

_ Dan didn't find it hard to reach Ana after that.  _

_ The doctor told him about her condition, avouching once more that it wasn't pneumonia. He breathed easier after hearing that directly from the physician.  _

_ — It could've been aggravated by the fine dust, I checked the percentage on the day you said she arrived back from China and it was pretty high, so I'm betting on that. _

_ As if the universe was coming together to make sure she got the most accurate diagnosis of the world, his phone rang. It was Naoki. _

_ — It wasn't Winwin, it was Rika. — He sneezes almost to prove his point. — She fell sick today. — Another sneeze. — These two are the worst to treat when sick, please take good care of Ana. _

_ — Don't even need to ask. — He smiled his answer and wished the best for the sick couple. — I guess she was infected in Japan, one of her co-workers is down with the flu as well. _

The last drop had to be the article. The one about her, he would mean.

They didn't talk since her arrival in JYPE when she got back from China, the worry was being risen exponentially because of the time they spent apart. He refrained to show, although the time apart also took a hit on him.

— Hyung, remember what you said when you thought it was Mark-hyung and Yeeun-noona? — The younger one was blocking his way out of the room. — You said they shouldn't meet.

And it had been hours already, though the fact that his own words had been used against him was a shitty one.

— Jieun-ah is going to kill me next time we see each other, won't she? — He recognised the fellow member from his pace.

— Don't think so... — He sat by his side, the studio as their shelter once again. — She's overseas shooting an upcoming drama. — He was cautiously arriving at his main point. — I heard you didn't sleep last night, are you doing it again tonight?

— Oh, not you. — He made a mess of his hair with his hands. — Every time I close my eyes I think of how she'll react to this shit.

— I think she'll mostly be worried about you. — The younger one got eyes on him. — What? Do you think just because I'm not Mark nor Youngjae I don't know her? — The leader only grunted in a very caveman manner. — I'll have to quote Bambam saying she's more than a girlfriend of one of us. — He sighed. — She's our friend, you know? Jieun usually asks about her.

— I just want this nightmare to end. — His fingers travelled from his scalp to his forehead.

_ ~ day one hundred sixteen~ _

_ — Dan-ah, where are we? — Ana's voice sounded rough with disuse. — He crossed the private room to her as fast as he could. _

_ — Oh, if it’s not sleeping beauty herself. — He smiled excitedly while she motioned to her throat. _

_ — What’s wrong with me? — She whined, making him feel some compassion, however not enough to drop the teasing. _

_ — You’re catching up in years of strong health, darling, this is how we, bare mortals live our lives. — She smiled making a face at the same time. — What do you think about making some calls before you head back to dreamland? _

_ — I’m not sleepy. — She retorted as the doctor entered her room. _

_ — I’m very glad to finally meet you, Ana-ssi. — He had a kind face, and she would most certainly be glad about that if he wasn’t speaking Korean. _

_ — I’m not good at communicating in Korean. — She bowed her head as much as she could in a laying position. — Did you not tell him beforehand? _

_ — You clearly don’t get the fact that you were burning away in the highest fever when we arrived, right? — He turned away from her crossing his arms pretending to be mad. _

_ — It’s okay, I can do it in English. — She sighed in relief, her brain felt too foggy to try out any Korean. — Your fever had been lowering in the last few hours, which is a great sign, but since you are under medication I want to keep you a little for observation, if possible when leaving you should head home and be with someone in case it comes back. _

_ By the side of the bed, Dan watched carefully as Ana nodded to the doctor, it was weird seeing her so calm when they were in such extreme situations. Exactly then he remembered she didn’t know about the whole drama going on out there. He checked his phone once again, Jaebeom calls piling up. _

_ — If your fever comes back I’ll administer the medication once again, the breathing difficulty you presented earlier seems to be due to exposure to fine dust, so we’re fine with that as well. _

_ — Thank you, doctor. — She smiled as he left. — I’m sorry for such an ordeal. — Her eyes on Dan, his on the phone. — I don’t even remember the last time I had to be taken to the hospital. _

_ — Don’t mention it, the number of times you had to do it for me… But please don’t put up such a fight if it ever happens again, okay? — He pointed the phone to her so she could choose who to call first. _

_ — I’m not planning to let it happen again, like  _ ever _. — Ana took it from him thinking of who she should call first. _

_ — Oh, so it was planned this time? How could you do it without a heads up? — She smiled at his tease and brought her finger to her lips as the phone rang with the call. _

With the excuse of going to the bathroom; because since his sprint after reading the article about Ana their managers were glued to him; Jaebeom managed to call Mizuki. By then he knew all too well that Ana’s phones were all at her apartment, neither Dan nor Mizuki had the time to collect them on their hurried way to the hospital.

— Wanatabe-ssi, are you with Ana?

It took a while for her to answer him, the junior stylist had to look at the screen to check his name a second time. He had just woken her up.

— JB-san, damn… — Her brain was barely functioning, let alone in Korean. — Come again.

— Are you with Ana? — He asked again in a whisper in Japanese.

— Oh, Dan-san was to take her to JYPE so you could update you… Hasn’t she arrived yet? — She yawned.

— What? — He had the decency of taking the phone away from his face before pretty much yelling, who cared about not being loud or anything when Ana was finally in the same building as him?

He opened and closed a bunch of doors before reaching the one they were in, the rest of the members following him asking what he was looking for, he could also hear manager Kim’s voice falling behind barking things he couldn’t make sense of. As always manager Park and Jeong were way more silent.

Mark had her face in his hands when he barged in.

— Oh, look at who just arrived! — He got up after tapping Dan’s leg. — She still doesn’t know about it — The older one stopped by the leader’s side. — and she’s a little out of it because of the medication.

He strode after her without saying a word. Finally, he had her inside his embrace.

They had to pretty much separate themselves in little groups to talk to Ana. The first ones were Youngjae and Bambam, the older looking gloomy and worried, he barely let the Thai have some time with the stylist. “Mark-hyung and I were the firsts to get the hair change, Ana-ya! Do you like it?” She smiled and patted his head as an answer, still feeling hot, cold and uneasy, the fever coming back. The next ones took less time even being three. “You better get well soon, otherwise when Ella hears about it she’ll bring her ass to Korea,” Jackson said, patting her knee, making everyone in the room laugh or at least smile.

Everyone save manager Kim.

— You guys, I guess it’s about time we talk business, right? — He was seated on the opposite side of Ana, both at the head of the long table.

— Can’t I talk to her privately? — Jaebeom almost pleaded, yet, the next sound they heard was the monitor of the room being turned on, the pictures taken from the gossip websites shining on the screen.

The realisation of what that meant made Ana sit up straight and make a weird noise, mouth ajar.

Every possibility ran through her mind at that time. Could it have been one of the other members just pranking them? Could it be some kind of hidden camera shit previously prepared? She remembered once watching a video of them planning to prank Jaebeom, except only after his recovery. And she was everything but recovered.

She lowered her mask with a lot of might as if the air around her was polluted with fine dust again.

The last excuse she had was that her feverish brain was tricking her, however before someone pressed a new button to show the article it had been taken from, Jaebeom’s caressing hand at her back was proof that shit had really gone down. She recognized the action as him trying to calm her down. The only two times he had resorted to doing that was when she got the scare of possibly having her phone hacked and the day that was being shown to them.

— We’ll leave you to it. — Manager Kim got up in silence and agitated his hands calling his fellow managers, the members and Dan.

They were out in no time.

— It was like three in the morning? — Her voice had tears in it that she was refraining to shed. — How the hell did someone...? — He didn’t answer right away.

— I can deny it if you want me to. — He was deadly serious, and if Ana had any kind of doubt about how serious he was about them that moment broke all of them. — You don’t have to go through this, I know it’ll bring problems to you.

—  _ You know  _ I hate lying. — She didn’t try to be soft, or maybe it was her brain’s lack of fresh air. — And  _ I _ know you’d hate to lie to your fans. — She was on her way to leaning back to him when he got up startling the hell out of her. She almost fell from the chair.

He came back with a thermometer.

— No one knows that it’s you in the pictures, though. — She was silently waiting for a suggestion there since her thinking machine was paused due to overheating. — Maybe I can tell them I’m dating but don’t want to tell them who it is? — The thermometer shouted with the results. — Your fever is getting higher. — He pressed the coat she was wearing closer to herself. 

She hummed in agreement.

— That’s about the fever or the plan?

— Your brilliant mind, of course. — She leaned into him pulling her legs to the chair. — Let’s just release the damn article before manager Kim’s heart burst, okay?

— I’ll call them saying so, Dan must have some medicine for you as well.

— Just don’t pull away just yet, hmmm?

Dan hugged her from behind trying futilely to make her shivers subside. “Shouldn’t we take her back to the hospital?” Youngjae asked when they were still going to the parking lot, but retrieved his suggestions when they heard about the turmoil in front of the building.

— They’re pretty much arguing between themselves out there. — A security guard told them. — The ones that are okay with it seem to be trying to shut the others.

— What if we try to talk them into stopping that? — Jaebeom spoke in concern.

— It shouldn’t be you to do that. — Jinyoung argued. — It’ll make the turmoil worse.

He grunted in agreement, and he had thought that making a plan to leave the building would be the hardest part. After deciding on the whole text that would be posted to the internet and writing it by hand they made an elaborate plan to make sure Ana and Jaebeom would arrive home without being caught on camera, it wasn’t an easy deal since it was the end of the morning. Yes, they spent quite a lot of time coming up with the perfect text.

The two of them would stay at Mark’s because Ana was at least a little used to the environment and because Jaebeom was not to drive after putting two all-nighters in a row. The oldest member would drive them there in his own car, Jaebeom would think about getting his back in a calmer time.

Both the plan and the letter to the public was shown to their marketing team before being posted and put to practice. Jaebeom had been less reactive at the staff doings after Ana arrived, still, her rising fever was doing things to his temper.

— The way to the parking lot is free, right? Let’s do as we planned and I’ll go out there to try calming things down. — At Jinyoung’s resolution, they went separate ways.

Had they prepared for the worst-case scenario things would have gone down smoothly.

At least for Jinyoung things went down greatly. Going outside was more peaceful than they thought it would, there weren’t as many people as there was earlier that morning, and as he calmly asked them to respect Jaebeom’s choice to both date and to keep his girlfriend’s identity secret; that was one of his points when offering himself to speak to the public “I’m afraid one of you will spill Ana’s name instead of keeping it a secret.” Most of the fans left not too long after he ended talking.

They weren’t waiting for the attack of reporters at the parking lot exit though.

Mark was alone in the front, with Jaebeom holding a shivering Ana at the backseat. They had added a hood to her already stuffy coat. Having been medicated again made her hazy and sleepy until the reporters surrounded the car.

— How did they not tell us about it? — Mark complained and cursed his anger through his lips.

It was impossible to understand the wording of their questions, but above all Jaebeom was worried about how Ana was getting restless under his touch. — Hyung, what will we do?

Once again Mark would have to be the grown-up.

He had the best in mind when he lowered his window, but they got attacked by flashes. Since when Korean media had gone  _ that mad _ ?

— Hyung, can we get out of here? — Mark looked back at the couple, Jaebeom trying his hardest not to let the flashes reach Ana as she covered herself in a mixture of cold and despair. That was the epitome of why sometimes they would hate being  _ that _ public.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like ages since I updated this on time, which makes me SO glad I can barely explain.


	20. Day one hundred and twenty-two

The group had found the fun in doing vlives again and it showed. Someone from their marketing team had even shown up to thank them, their fans were over the moon with that. 

She didn't care all that much in the beginning, however, it only took a little for her to be included in those, considering they were always together. It made her muse about the time when they shared a dorm.

— Ana-chan, where are you going? —Youngjae was the one to call, being beyond worrying that someone would care for her presence there.

— I'm getting something to eat since this isn't a mukbang. — She got up from behind the camera striding to the kitchen, as almost always they were at Mark's.

And no, Youngjae wasn’t the only unworried of someone knowing she was there. The truth was that their fans had been asking for more content with her because God knew why they were fond of her. Comments of joy and asking for her to show up started popping as soon as they heard her voice.

The best of all was that no one suspected that Ana of all people was Jaebeom’s girlfriend. Although some shady things were surrounding who had leaked the pictures of them, the reporters had been denying and the thoughts that followed through were too unsettling for Ana’s liking.

_ ~ day one hundred eighteen~  _

_ — But if it wasn't reporters who could it be? — She asked from her place at the large table by her boyfriend's side. It was the first time they gathered at his house.  _

_ — We're not sure if it wasn't reporters, it's not confirmed yet. — Mark stated although didn't seem all that certain, they had left his house that morning after receiving the information that their houses were free of lurking people. _

_ — It could have been a sasaeng. — By her side, Jaebeom said in a troubled way, still, his grip around her torso felt comforting. _

_ They looked tense at his remark, she didn't remember hearing stories from them regarding sasaengs, but her mind was flooded with memories of all the shit she knew the units of NCT she had worked with had to outbrave in the past, it made her shiver only by the thought. Sasaengs were the biggest reasons why she was  _ that _ careful regarding her public life.  _

_ — Ana-ya? — Bambam knocked his hand on the wooden table bringing her back from her reverie, Jaebeom had changed her position on his lap although she hadn't realised. All seven pairs of eyes on her. — Are you okay? _

_ — She shivered. — Jaebeom's worry was clear. — Can someone get the thermometer? — Youngjae darted for it. _

_ — I'm fine, I just spaced out for a bit. — She pressed her hands against her neck, a smile too weak to convince anyone and looked around trying to calm them down. — No need to worry. _

_ Behind her Jaebeom made a face, regretting having brought the sasaeng talk up. He looked hard to the members attempting to have one of them lift the mood. _

_ Gladly Youngjae came back with Nora in his arms. Ana's face automatically brightened up by a smile. _

_ — Couldn't find the thermometer, but brought her instead. — He passed her the cat that was fast to find a comfortable position on Ana's lap. _

_ — Since we made our visit for the day and the happy family is all cosy, I guess it's time we leave. — Jinyoung smiled gently at the silent thank you Jaebeom threw in his direction. _

She could hear them from the kitchen, the sound of the mess made her smile, it felt great to be around them again, she loved Jaebeom and all, yet, it killed to be away from work and the other six came in like a combo.

When she finally found something she could cook by herself and eat without borrowing one of the guys she huffed. The only package of ramen was on the top of a shelf that was too high for her to reach, meaning she would have to fetch one of them so she would not die of hunger. She decided it would be better to send a message in their group instead of shouting for one of them.

Jackson was the one to show up.

— Unbelievable. — Ana complained, getting a snort from the Chinese.

— If you wanted Jaebeom-hyung you should’ve asked for him specifically, I came because I was closer.

— Jackson, I need to get that ramen package from the top shelf, if I was to ask for someone it should’ve been Yugyeom.

Facing the situation, Jackson looked at her deeply and with too much resolve for her liking. He strode to the shelf as if he wasn’t only fifteen centimetres taller than her. She had the time to type two words before he started yelling, making her startle enough to drop the phone.

— What the hell, Mark!? — The Chinese sprinted from the kitchen to the living room in despair.

Ana was so damn distracted by that, that next thing she knew a freaking lizard is riding her. It was her turn to yell.

  
  


_ ~ day one hundred nineteen~ _

_ Ana felt that things were going back to normal when she woke up before Jaebeom. They were staying at home for days since being back from Mark, and after getting up for a day she didn't have activities, she decided to make food for Jaebeom's breakfast. _

_ — I heard you're a terrible cook. — Mark said from the doorstep, delivering the things she needed from the grocery shop. _

_ — There's no real cooking involved here, so no need to worry. — She grabbed the plastic bag from him. — You should've taken a paper bag. _

_ — You are welcome, please don't kill our leader with the food. — He took a fast step back to dodge from her slap. _

_ Ana closed the door and ran to the kitchen hoping to be able to have things fairly done by the time he woke up. She said a prayer before starting hoping that everything would go smoothly. _

_ She was boiling water for the noodles when her phone rang. Yes, she was making noodles because she was afraid anything more elaborate would have her setting fire to her boyfriend's house. She didn't read the name before answering the video call. _

_ Haechan’s voice was the first one she heard. _

_ — Told you it was personal. _

_ — Noona! Why did you answer Jhonny's call but not mine? — Mark was whining as she dried her hands to make her way to the phone. _

_ — For God’s sake, Mark, are you serious? — That voice had to be Johnny’s. _

_ — You guys? — She appeared in the camera area, they were fighting for the phone’s possession. — Did you call for that? — She had her face resting in her hands and the elbows on the sink. _

_ — Noona! — Mark and Haechan had their faces too close to the camera. — You look great Noona! You don’t look sick at all. — Mark was smiling so much she was worried his face would be torn in half because of its intensity. _

_ — I’m better already, thank you. — Ana pretended to be serious, a noise from the stairs taking her attention. — Oh, come here, dear. — She was away from the camera and was back fastly with Kunta in her arms. _

_ — What the hell, is that a cat? — Johnny yelled from somewhere around, she was too occupied petting the cat to look at the screen. _

_ — Language! — She scolded eyes on them for a second. — This is Kunta, you guys. — Secretly her favourite. _

_ — Are you kidding us? — Jaehyun showed up out of nowhere. — You hate cats! _

_ She had her hands on the cat’s ear in no time. — Don’t say that in front of her. — And that made them silent. _

_ — Are you trying to set fire to the house? — The sleepy and gruff voice startled her and the cat. _

_ — Cacete! — The cat was around the corner in no time. Ana put a hand on her chest, she wasn’t waiting for him to wake up at the time. — Good morning to you too.  _

_ The call was quiet. _

_ Jaebeom was by her side in no time, brushing his lips on her forehead when passing. Then he was yawning making her smile. She tilted her head to the side. — I got multiple flavours, Mark said your favourite was sold off. _

_ — You got Mark to do errands? — He had a soft smile on his face and made a gesture she knew all too well, his straightened hand was a call for her to go there. _

_ — OH MY GOOD! — Mark’s yell was cut in half because of one of their connection. She had forgotten about the call. Her eyes almost popped out at that. _

_ — You guys, can we talk later? — She slid on the floor appearing frightened on camera. _

_ — I thought it was your house in Japan! — Mark was a little hysteric. — Your mom said your place here in Korea isn’t that big! _

_ — I’m still to go home, as you must’ve read I needed to be somewhere not alone. _

_ — But that one was JB-sunbaenim, right? — Ana wouldn’t confess, although she felt inclined to lie. _

_ — Good morning, you guys. — She saw their eyes and heard his voice near her neck, the back hug warming her. She had forgotten how people got when discovering she was dating and who the boyfriend was. Their faces were golden, and she wanted to print the screen at the time, but Ana herself was frozen. _

_ — Good morning, JB-sunbaenim. Let’s leave them, Mark, you can call later. — Johnny was the one to bow and end the call. _

  
  


Jebeom was the fastest to arrive in the kitchen after her yell, yet he had the audacity of laughing. She was seated on the kitchen counter wanting to stay as much away from the lizard as possible.

— Are you seriously up there because of this little thing here? — He dared to get near the animal.

— MARK! — She called for the house owner knowing Jaebeom was going to escort the lizard away from the house but not look for more, maybe she would be luckier with the American.

But before anyone appeared Jaebeom got up from the floor.

— I can’t find her. — Ana held her legs close to her chest, not knowing if she could trust him. 

— How do you know it’s  _ her _ ? — Her reaction made him laugh and hold his hands up as if to show her he was unarmed. He made a face that she knew all too well and liked a lot when the members barged in hurriedly. — Oh, don’t do that, you guys! — She gestured in annoyance because they had brought the camera, which meant she was getting no Jaebeom to her.

He took two steps back while Youngjae and Mark approached.

  
  


_ ~ day one hundred twenty-two ~  _

_ — Long time no see... — The first voice she heard inside the company was Jackson’s and he was speaking Chinese. She smiled, feeling satisfied.  _

_ — Can’t say the same here. — That one had to be Mark. _

_ — You guys must be too free, right? Should we make a change in our calendar once again? — She teased when arriving at the door. Weirdly she felt inclined to go back home. _

_ — Did you come with him today? — They entered the room with her, Mark taking her seat before she could try and claim it. _

_ — Gyeom gave us a ride. — Eyeing the room she made a mental note to thank Mizuki later, there was no way she had left the room as tidied up as it was. _

_ She felt cornered when Jackson took a seat by Mark’s side and stared at her. She didn’t know if it was still the weird feeling because of the last scare they had. Yes, she had chosen to call it that way since dating scandal scared the shit out of her. _

_ — There’s something we wanted to talk to you about. — Jackson said with a serious face, which worried her. _

_ — You being serious is frightening me a little.  _

_ — You know you have some fan clubs, right? — Mark started, making her nod, Naoki and Rika used to amuse her with news like that, though they looked too serious to be doing the same as her coworkers. — And that they know you’re working with us, hmm? _

_ — Mark, dear, please spit it out, is someone suspicious about me and Jaebeom? — Her foot was being tapped on the floor with precipitation of what that could mean. _

_ — No, no, rest assured about that! — Jackson got up with a bit of a smile at the corner of his lips. — They think something is going on between you and Mark-hyung. _

_ Ana felt nothing except flabbergasted at that. The universe had to be pranking her all too hard for her liking, all that in only a month. She huffed and scratched her forehead. _

_ — How did you guys get to do this? — She gestured to the place, meaning that they had managed to tell her without their manager around.  _ And _ without Jaebeom. — Does Jaebeom know about this? Why didn’t he tell me about this? _

_ Her voice hit a pitch higher when she darted to her handbag looking for her phone because Jaebeom had to be out of his mind if he was planning to hide something like that from her. _

_ — Ana, it’s not a dating scandal. — Mark was by her side in no time, her breath was hitched. He grabbed her by the shoulders. — He doesn’t know. — He talked slowly trying his best to calm her at least a little.  _

_ — H-How does he not? — That kind of thing usually spread like the plague. _

_ — The fandom. — Jackson smiled from his seat. — Ours and yours as well. They’re calling that because Mark was seen going to the hospital they knew you were at, but they’re being kind about it and asking for peace since things had been so hectic lately. _

_ — Oh… — She lost her balance but leaned on the table. _

_ — And if it’s about us that can be denied. — Mark reassured once again. — We have nothing going on, so from where I stand, it’s better for you and also for me and Yeeun. _

_ — Hyung is right! — Jackson was by her side after that. _

_ — And there’s something else! — Mark giggled, she breathed out feeling the mood be lifted. — The marketing team wants you to show up around us in our next vlive! _

  
  


— Are you guys letting me die here?

Ana was lay on the kitchen counter, every one of the members, besides Jackson who was nowhere to be seen after his own scare, didn't seem to care. They were still doing the vlive, reason why she wasn’t able to ask Jaebeom for anything. Mark either. Youngjae was by her side, but they were all agreeing that she should get down before eating. 

— All you have to do is get down, Ana-chan!

— If only Mark’s house was updated with his pest control deals… — She whined. — Bambam and Yugyeom were the only ones in front of the camera, but they had previously threatened to turn it to her. Jinyoung was talking to Jieun on the phone.

They heard a bang that could only be from Jackson, and half of the group was fast to run towards it, including Bambam and Yugyeom with the camera. Ana sat up.

— You guys! Please give me something to eat! — Youngjae and Jinyoung were left behind, and she was pleading for Jinyoung’s distraction and Youngjae’s softness.

— Ana-chan, you know that it’ll be the death of me if I do. — He looked only half guilty, the other half a tease.

—  _ And _ I’m right here! — Jinyoung had a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.

— I’m sure Jieun would agree that you should— 

— I want to see the body! — It was Jackson’s loud yell. — I’m not going in that kitchen if I don’t see a dead body.

— Son-ah. — She got up on her knees to communicate and yelled as well. — They lost it! No one can find the animal!

— You have to be kidding us! — Jaebeom was set between the living room and the kitchen being able to see the two scared ones. — It was only a lizard, it’s beyond me why you are making such a fuss.

— A lizard? Did you see it? — Jackson was being as over the top as Ana.

— That damn thing is an alligator!

They laughed out loud, even Jinyoung.

  
  


_ ~ day one hundred twenty-three ~  _

_ They were all seated at the room she only got to know that day. Its background was decorated with motifs made by her for the Dream visual concept making her feel nostalgic even if it had been only a couple of months. She was very fast to forget that their fans didn’t know about the new things they were coming up with, her mind was already too deep in the other six songs they were going to promote next month. _

_ — They’ll be holding the camera with their hands and you can be just at your table sketching or something like that. — Manager Jeong had the best English among their staff and was not so secretly her favourite of the three. _

_ — So I won’t be in this room, right? _

_ — Not at first. — At first, Ana thought it was going to be a very laid back thing, but it was being proven to be very planned. — We want the fans to ask for you. _

_ — And as you know they know about you already. — Manager Park said kindly. At least she interpreted like that.  _

_ The previous day they had given her the offer to show up in the vlive of the day, but she refrained from doing so, choosing to be behind the cameras. She had designed specific items of clothing that meant the transition between Dream and the new visual concept of I like you. Originally it had been enough, but ten in the middle of the vlive some fans asked if there were people with them and Bambam was excited enough to show her it was a matter she liked besides the not planned approach.h _

_ — They’ll show the fans around, talk to some people and you’ll be caught on camera as if accidentally. _

_ — This room is only for the case they don’t want you. — As always, manager Kim appeared out of nowhere. _

_ — It sounds good enough. — She chose, as always, not to confront the older man, selecting the option to rise above his harsh comments. — So can I stay in my room? It sounds like I may not even be needed, right? _

_ — We’ll be going out to eat afterwards. — Jaebeom had to be learning that skill from manager Kim, it was the first time she saw him after going separate ways after arriving there in the morning. _

_ — It’ll be my treat. — Ana melted a little inside his embrace but left afterwards bowing to the managers. _

  
  


— Ana-ya, please take a breath, I’m afraid you’ll choke on the food. — Yugyeom was the one to ask.

— If I die choked on this ramen I hope you guys make sure not to make anyone else starve around you. — That made them laugh. Sleepy Ana was one thing, but hungry Ana was new, and they liked it.

— All you had to do was get down from there. — Jaebeom had his eyes almost closed while smiling at her, hips touching the surface she was seated on.

— You guys aren’t taking me seriously enough, right? — She asked between bites, eyes diverting from them to the food. — I’m not stepping on this floor until I see a dead body, I’m claiming Mark’s kitchen counter as mine for the time being.

And she meant that, the coldness of the lizard’s skin still scaring her enough to be afraid to step on the floor.

Later that night Jaebeom had to carry her to the car where he would take her home.


End file.
